They’re carrying a lot of baggage.
With the friendly skies increasingly becoming an inflight free-for-all, the Federal Aviation Administration is warning passengers against one dumb and dangerous evacuation habit — trying to leave with one’s bags.
“Save a life not a bag,” the organization cautioned in a video PSA with over 100,000 views on X.
The troubling footage shows a compilation of incidents where flyers exited the aircraft during emergencies with their luggage in tow.
Some of the clips even show passengers getting on the emergency slide with their luggage.
The footage resonated with flyers, with one fan declaring, “Can we get regulatory permission to beat pax who bring bags in an evacuation?”
Another wrote, “Nobody has ever said, ‘I’m glad I grabbed my suitcase first.’”
However, others bizarrely side with the people with attaché-ment disorder. “I’m taking my bag with [me],” declared one defender.
To hammer the point home, the FAA also included a link to the Passenger Evacuation resource page, in which they warned about the danger of leaving no bag behind.
“Bringing carry-on bags or stopping to gather personal belongings can delay everyone from getting off the aircraft,” the guidelines read. “Bags can also block aisles, damage evacuation slides, and increase the risk of injuries.”
Over 40 injuries have been reported during emergency evacuations since January 1, 2023, the FAA noted.
Other unplanned deplaning no-nos include pushing or stopping, pausing to record video, or wearing high heels, as these could perforate the emergency chute.
The video was part of the “Save a Life, Not a Bag” campaign launched by the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, in June to help combat the uptick in people schlepping their suitcases during impromptu deplanings.
In August 2025, 173 passengers and crew were forced to evacuate the American Airlines plane that caught on fire during takeoff, Business Insider reported. Footage showed some of the flyers hauling their rollerboards as they departed the smoking aircraft.
“We are seeing an increasing number of passengers not following flight crew instructions during emergencies,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in the IATA press release.
In a video from February, Connecticut-based flight attendant Leanna Coy explained that their taught evacuation plans in 90 seconds.
“That’s it — that’s how long you’re estimated to have to get off that plane,” she warned.
And while certain frequent flyers might argue that retrieving their bags only takes a couple of seconds, Coy said that this can add up if every passenger stops to scoop them up, which could end up proving fatal
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