The Federal Aviation Administration is instructing airlines to re-evaluate emergency evacuation procedures, including flight crews’ training, announcements and commands to passengers, the agency told NBC News on Friday.
The FAA said in a statement that the new recommendations are meant to ensure that “passengers understand they must leave carry-on items behind during an emergency evacuation.”
“Passengers have taken their carry-on items with them on a number of recent evacuations,” the FAA said. “This slows the evacuation and puts lives at risk.”
The new instructions come months after several emergency evacuations where passengers could be seen scrambling off planes with their suitcases.
In March, passengers escaped an American Airlines plane after its engine caught fire at Denver International Airport. In April, a Delta Air Lines flight was evacuated on emergency slides at Orlando International Airport after an engine fire. And in July, passengers evacuated an American Airlines jet at Denver International Airport on emergency slides after the landing gear caught fire during an aborted takeoff.
The FAA said that the removal of belongings slowed each of the evacuations.
It now recommends that airlines’ “safety briefings clearly and concisely instruct passengers to leave all carry-on items behind during an evacuation.
It added that airlines leverage their safety systems “to evaluate evacuation procedures and identify and address any risks and hazards.”
Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said that passengers need to “listen to the flight attendant instructions and leave your bags behind.”
“The only thing you need to do is save your life and the lives of everyone else on board,” she said.
