Frontier Airlines passengers may have endangered lives when they stopped to retrieve bags during a chaotic, smoke-filled evacuation.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the circumstances surrounding Frontier Airlines Flight 4345, which last week struck a pedestrian on the runway at Denver International Airport as the aircraft was accelerating to take off.
Part of the NTSB’s investigation will focus on how the emergency evacuation of the aircraft was handled after reports that some passengers were delayed in the smoke-filled cabin. “We are gathering information about the emergency evacuation to determine if it meets criteria for a safety investigation,” NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick told the Associated Press early Sunday.
To be certified in the United States, passenger aircraft must pass an emergency evacuation drill with every passenger seat on the aircraft occupied. Without any luggage items, the entire passenger and crew count must be evacuated from the aircraft in 90 seconds or less with half the exits blocked.
The author of a Reddit post who purported to be a passenger on the flight reported that the evacuation was slowed by other passengers taking bags out of the overhead bins. The poster continued her travel the following day, but reports that her luggage remained onboard the aircraft, including “her [infant’s] car seat, keys, wallet, and medication.”
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During emergencies, pilots typically assess the safety hazards present after an accident and may elect to wait for ground support to deplane passengers, following non-emergency procedures. If safety hazards pose an imminent threat, the pilots will order an evacuation, in which case passengers should follow crew members’ instructions—both those received during the emergency demonstration at the beginning of the flight and those given during the evacuation, including commands to leave all bags behind.
Once the evacuation is complete, the NTSB assumes responsibility for the aircraft, including passenger belongings left on board, while it conducts the initial investigation. Once they’ve determined that passenger baggage stowed in the passenger cabin and cargo compartments is not germane to their investigation, they’ll release it. Airlines are required by law to maintain contracts with emergency specialists who will then work to return effects to passengers.
In the interim, airlines typically have specialized teams that provide support to passengers to help obtain immediate replacements for items left onboard the aircraft, including replacing medication, contacting family members, and arranging onward travel—all at the airline’s expense. The Redditor posted that she spoke with several Frontier Airlines customer service staff who were unable to help. The poster says she was also told by Frontier staff that, because her ticket was booked via the airline’s unlimited GoWild pass, any onward travel back to her point of origin would be limited to flights available for purchase using the pass.
Fodor’s contacted the author of the post, but she declined to further comment or provide documentation verifying she was on board the flight.
Footage from the evacuation confirms reports of a slow pace in the smoke-filled cabin and of passengers evacuating with carry-on bags. Emergency procedures at most airlines remind passengers not to take their bags during an evacuation in the pre-flight safety demonstration. Flight attendant commands during an evacuation also include instructions to “leave everything,” and flight attendants are also instructed to continue giving instructions to leave everything if they see passengers approaching the exit with their bags—in some cases, even taking bags from passengers if they’re slowing an evacuation.
In previous evacuations involving airlines in countries around the world, investigators noted that passengers retrieving and evacuating with their bags slowed the egress of passengers behind them, making the accidents more deadly.
Twelve passengers received minor injuries during the evacuation; five were taken to area hospitals. The pedestrian struck by the aircraft died at the scene.
