There’s no grab-and-go during an in-flight fiasco.
Sack, suitcases and backpacks are to be left behind in the case of an emergency, so says a cabin crew member who warns that trying to save your pricy possessions could cost someone their life.
“You should never bring your bag in an airplane evacuation,” Leanna Coy, a Connecticut-based flight attendant, said in a TikTok-viral informational video. “Yes, even you!.”
“We are taught how to evacuate the plane in 90 seconds,” continued the redhead. She’s sharing her skyway safety do’s and don’t’s in light of the Delta Airlines crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17.
Frightening footage of the emergency evacuation shows flight crew staffers ushering passengers off of the aircraft, which burst into flames and flipped over before landing.
“Ninety seconds,” Coy reiterated in her trending word-to-the-wise. “That’s it — that’s how long you’re estimated to have to get off that plane.”
And while a faction of frequent flyers might argue that it would only take them “two seconds” to scoop their belongings before making a great escape, Coy says the risk comes at too high of a price.
“We don’t have two seconds per person on the plane,” she said, reemphasizing that the deplaning process is a time-sensitive procedure, which requires complete compliance.
“Here’s what happens in an evacuation,” Coy began. “The flight attendant is going to go over and open whichever aircraft door they’re responsible for.”
“Then, they’re going to start screaming the commands that we had to learn in training, which are something along the lines of ‘Leave everything! Come here! Jump!,’ she explained.
Failure to follow the orders could be fatal.
“The flight attendant who’s at the door, screaming her head off, asking you, begging you to leave everything and get off the plane — they can’t leave until everybody’s off,” said Coy. “So, while you’re there fumbling with your bag, they’re over there risking their life, waiting to get you off the plane.”
In response to a few contrarian commenters, naysayers who noted that some passengers might be traveling with “life-saving” prescriptions in their luggage, Coy reminded that folks are better off losing their meds than dead.
“Your life-saving medication, that can be replaced, is not more important than somebody’s life, that cannot be replaced,” she said.
But beyond the extreme time constraints of an evacuation, the plane pro warned that certain carry-ons could ruin everyone’s chances of fleeing with their lives.
“The other reason you have to leave your bags behind is the slides are inflatable,” Coy said of the emergency exit equipment. “The slides can pop — especially if you’re taking your roller bags with you.”
“If you pop that slide with your bag, now everyone is out of luck,” she said.
“Please listen to your flight attendants,” Coy urged. “They’re not on a power trip, it’s not a conspiracy.”
“They are risking their lives to try and save yours.”
