RIO DE JANEIRO — Iata launched a safety campaign urging airline passengers to leave hand baggage behind during aircraft evacuations. The campaign emphasizes that failure to comply endangers lives, as passenger aircraft are designed to be fully evacuated in 90 seconds during emergencies.

Nick Careen, Senior vice-president for operations and security at Iata, noted that many travelers are unaware of this expectation. "Four in 10 passengers don't even realise it's an expectation to leave their stuff behind," Careen said.

Research on travelers in the U.K., U.S., Singapore and the U.A.E. found that 61 percent of respondents were aware of the rules regarding leaving belongings behind during evacuations. The FAA has observed an increasing number of passengers failing to follow flight crew instructions during emergency situations.

Bryan Bedford, Administrator of the FAA, emphasized the importance of following instructions. "In those moments, compliance is critical. Passengers must act quickly, follow instructions without hesitation, and leave all belongings behind," Bedford stated. Industry data estimates approximately 30 aircraft evacuations occur annually worldwide.

Careen suggested that while the initial focus is on education, more stringent measures might be considered if necessary. "Let's start with education, then we will have to be a little bit more draconian, whether it be penalties or a lock on the overhead bin," Careen said. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are not currently considering technical solutions such as automatically locking overhead luggage bins. On one occasion, 18 passengers sustained minor injuries during a tarmac evacuation of a Ryanair flight at Palma airport in July.

Willie Walsh, outgoing director general of Iata, stated that the decision to evacuate aircraft is not made lightly. "We do not take decisions to evacuate aircraft lightly, so if it does happen, get off," Walsh said.