'A Sudden, Terrible Stillness'

A tremendous story. I am thankful that there were no deaths. An attribute the the quick and skilled emergency response by the flight crew, passengers and emergency workers. A very Happy Holiday for all involved.

I guess some people have no brain at all. After reading some of the comments on Tilly grabbibg his bag: you weren't there and do not know what amount of time he had to grabs possissions nor do you know how long it took him to do so. His writing indicates that he is a fairly intelligent man. I can't understand too, that why someone wouldn't appreciate an actuate account of events instead of some half-wit attempting to relay the story.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. The writing is superb by any standard. Also, I too would have grabbed my bag no doubt. I am sure you didn't open the overhead and cause delay for other passengers. It was probably on your lap or just under their seat. A very normal reaction I would say. I would love to hear from the pilots one of these days. They are the ones who can explain what happened to help avoid a situation like this again. Merry Christmas to all.

Reality mixed with some nice fiction. The very real near-disaster, and then the last part, with the double assurance of the lady to her son. Someone's looking for personal aggrandizement for this little short story.

And I say: " Not this time. No, not this time..."

Jeb Tilly should be taken out and shot for his rude selfishness that put other passengers at risk!
He states "I'd managed to grab my bag, which had a phone, sweater and jacket," well aren't you glad you are safe warm and comfortablem but since you were right at the emergency exit you blocked others from leaving. None of them died, Thank god for that but some of them who suffered from the smoke did so because it took longer for them to get out due to your selfishness Mr. Jeb Tilly!
Yes a gribbing dramatic tale is told, too bad it is of one man ignoring the safety warning we hear on every flight to not stop to gather our belongings, but rather to quickly exit the plane.
I am glad no one died, but I wonder if the plane had flashed over faster and some passengers had died would Tilly realize his act caused their death.

To mmck....I am certain the family members receiving phone calls from their loved ones involved in this crash did indeed feel it was "one hell of an important phone call". The main point I was trying to make is why do people always look on the negative side? Why is your first reaction "I can't believe the guy grabbed his bag!" instead of "Wow, thank God everyone survived. What a Christmas miracle!" People really need to focus on the positive in life. As for Jeb's account of the story.....the guy told it as he saw it happen. Until you have been in someone's shoes, you have no right to judge. To Jeb and all the passengers, here is wishing you all a very special Merry Christmas. And to all who have only negative comments, maybe you should study up on the meaning of the season and view things in a new light.

Thank God everyone survived.

Wow!

Wow!

I flew a 737 the day before to Tampa from Atlanta and can picture everything as Jeb described it. Having been on another flight 2 years ago that made an emergency landing in Baltimore due to the pilot's announcement that the computer said engine #2 was on fire, I can relate to the feelings that go with something being wrong. 6 fire engines raced down the runway alongside us as we landed and parked at the end of the runway. It was a tense 15 minutes as they inspected the plane and declared us to be not on fire. The computer was faulty. An hour later, we boarded the same plane and continued to Tampa. Jeb's story was gripping. Does this guy write for a living? I'm glad everyone survived.

Anyone who implies that noone has a right to complain about what happened needs to learn about compassion. Of course they are grateful that noone was killed. certainly, they have every right to be upset and to express their feelings.
If even one person had deeply panicked, no doubt they would have all been in peril.I commend them for getting through it as well as they did. Best wishes to you all.

As a person who flys every week for travel the events document a worst case scenereo that very few ever experience. I have logged thousands of hour flying in my 30 years of travel. Seats are now tighter, space more limited due to all bags being carried onto the airplanes rather than checked. These passengers were extremely lucky they were on a newer 737 and flying with Contenential which still respects some space between seats. If they were on a US Air flight or United where seats are now in cattle car arrangement with barely enough room to have your legs not hit the seat in front the results could be different.

There are valid concerns anyone taking time to take a bag with them, regardless of the size, or where there seat is located. Seconds count, bags can get stuck blocking other peoples exit, other people can trip over the bag in a smoke filled cabin. I like many other of my business travels feel connected to my breifcase and laptop and have tremendous amount of work and irreplaceable data on it at any given times between backups. I hope I would have the presence of mind and concern of others to "leave it" and help assist others to get to the exit and out to safety especially the woman and her children. If even 4 or 5 people of 100+ tried to take thier personal belongings it could mean 5-10 additional seconds dramatically changing the percentages of a safe exit.

I am very grateful everyone made it out and for the outstanding writing of dramatic events. We should not also overlook the how it could have turned out differently by several people not following evacuation policies especially in some of the more cramped airplanes of todays market.

Thank god that we still have articulate people such as Mr. Tilly who is capable of telling his story so well. That a great many Americans lack the skills to write as well as Tilly only makes me appreciate his narrative more. I'm a retired college English professor who fought the good fight. Tilly would have been a pleasure to have in class.

As a person who flys every week for travel the events document a worst case scenereo that very few ever experience. I have logged thousands of hour flying in my 30 years of travel. Seats are now tighter, space more limited due to all bags being carried onto the airplanes rather than checked. These passengers were extremely lucky they were on a newer 737 and flying with Contenential which still respects some space between seats. If they were on a US Air flight or United where seats are now in cattle car arrangement with barely enough room to have your legs not hit the seat in front the results could be different.

There are valid concerns anyone taking time to take a bag with them, regardless of the size, or where there seat is located. Seconds count, bags can get stuck blocking other peoples exit, other people can trip over the bag in a smoke filled cabin. I like many other of my business travels feel connected to my breifcase and laptop and have tremendous amount of work and irreplaceable data on it at any given times between backups. I hope I would have the presence of mind and concern of others to "leave it" and help assist others to get to the exit and out to safety especially the woman and her children. If even 4 or 5 people of 100+ tried to take thier personal belongings it could mean 5-10 additional seconds dramatically changing the percentages of a safe exit.

I am very grateful everyone made it out and for the outstanding writing of dramatic events. We should not also overlook the how it could have turned out differently by several people not following evacuation policies especially in some of the more cramped airplanes of todays market.

Thank god for articulate people such as Mr. Tilly. Thanks for sharing your story. That a great many Americans could not relate the story as well as you have does only makes us appreciate your writing skills more highly.

Wow; to Live through such a thing, All of you are Truly Blessed. Be Thankful you survived to tell others of your ordeal.
Personally I would not have knowned what to do but reading about it enlightened me you have to think fast, like the first
time I was in a fire drill I left my pocketbook and coat, now when we have a fire drill I remember to take at least my pocketbook, my phone is in there and I can at least talk to loved ones to let them know Iam alright.

Oh my word, I think that a whole bunch of these people just post without reading the comments. Obviously, these sour and judgemental individuals don't read the comments even after they have posted, or they might recant their venom and vitriol. Nowhere in the article did he say "So I stood out in the aisle getting out my overstuffed carry-on bag while the little old lady behind me screamed in frustration..." he said he grabbed his bag. I immediately assumed he meant a bag at his feet. I fly quite frequently, and always have a bag with my wallet, phones, etc right at my feet. I've noticed the same behavior in the vast majority of air passengers. I would wish something ill on all of those people who said/typed such awful things (wishing they had been knocked out and left to burn? What the h3ll is your problem??) but Karma (or whatever balancing force you believe in) will take care of them in the end. I am thankful that everyone got out of that plane alive, and that Mr. Tilly wrote such a good piece. Thank God that everyone got out, and most got out with no or minor injuries.