Common Sense?
It’s August 2, 2005. You’re a passenger on Air France Flight 358, landing at Pearson Airport. Everything has been routine up until this point - the flight attendant was friendly enough, your pretzels were kind of stale, you’re glad the seatbelt sign is on because you’re tired of getting up for the guy in the window seat who has made fifteen trips to the toilet - when suddenly, the plane skids off the runway, crashes into a ditch and bursts into flames.
Do you a) wait for instructions from the cabin crew, b) proceed to the nearest exit, the one you located at the beginning of the trip in case of emergency, or c) clamour over everyone to rescue your Heys carry-on luggage in the overhead bin? It seems absurd that anyone would be concerned about their toiletries and socks at a time like that, but there must have been a few morons on that flight because that’s one of the Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations in a report about the incident released yesterday:
Passengers should be instructed at the start of the flight to leave all carry-on baggage behind during an evacuation because the few seconds it takes to gather personal belongings could be crucial.
D’uh! I thought this was already a part of the instructional video you’re shown as the plane is taxiing to the runway, but even so, who holds up an emergency evacuation with their Louis Vuitton pullman that’s been jammed under the seat in front of them? Someone who doesn’t have the brains God gave cheese, that’s who!
Feel free to share your “what were they thinking?” stories in the reply section below. CHEESE is your Jack Nation bonus code. It’s worth 100 points until December 14th.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
August 2nd is the best day of the year, I’m partial cuz it’s my birthday. I can tell you I was so happy that no one died, I did NOT want that to be a birthday memory. Chris Martin of Coldplay said that one of the reason’s they chose Toronto to film their DVD (what ever happened to that?) in town was because the Air France incident happened on the same day of their concert and they considered it a sign that no one was killed. But still, in the event my plane crashed, I’d be more worried about saving my ass, than some smelly cheese.
December 12th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Hi Carly:
Amongst all the possible scenarios the best happened, no lives were lost in that crash. There were a few brain cramps because of the weather during the landing of Air France flight 358 because the effects of wind shear, heavy rain and a short runway/exit for the size of the jet. There were too many f**k ups (IMO) in both the tower and the pilot seat that caused the the plane to overshoot the end of the runway and crash into the ravine; which shouldn’t have been at the end of a runway in the first place. The thinking cap is not on when some airports are designed because the worst scenarios are not accounted for because of cost. I’d think the cost for safety is worth saving 1 human life, no matter the cost. Obviously we haven’t gotten it yet or we wouldn’t have all these inquiries making recommendations.
Rick
December 12th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Other than the idiots I encounter on the 401 when I go to and from work, the only person who I think would fit this category was a contestant on last week’s Deal Or No Deal show. There were two cases left, one with $200,000, and one with $1,000. The offer was $110,000 and the lady decided to take a chance to get $200,000 so she said “no deal.” I think it was the worst decision ever made in this game, since her case ended up with only $1,000.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Idiots