'A Sudden, Terrible Stillness'

Great article! I am grateful that all of you survived and wish you a safe, happy Christmas!

What a scary event!

As a former flight attendant these are the facts: During takeoff and landing the flight attendant, seated in their jumpseat, does something called their 'silent review'. What are they reviewing? In their heads: LOCATION OF EXITS, COMMANDS TO CALL OUT SHOULD THERE BE AN UPLANNED EMERGENCY, LOCATION OF NEAREST FIRE EXTINGUISHERS. Why does the f/a do this during takeoff and landing? 90 % of all accidents and incidents take place on takeoff and landing. As a passenger you can help yourself by concentrating on the takeoff and landing. Don't go to sleep, don't bury your head in a book or magazine. Think about how you'd get out of your cabin, sometimes the nearest or ONLY safe way out is behind you. DON'T TRY TO TAKE YOUR STUPID LUGGAGE WITH YOU!!! I'm glad Jed and the rest of the pax got out alive, and Happy Holidays to all of you!

These things don't often end with only broken bones as the worst of the injuries. Everyone is lucky to be alive. Grabbing one's bag in the rush to exit the aircraft can be explained away as one of the things humans do without thinking in these situations. That's enough of an explanation. It's like calling the fire department to report your home is on fire and then thoughtfully placing the headset back in the phone's cradle before you run for your life.

I'm glad he grabbed his bag. Everyone needs to calm the heck down. If you think it was a mistake, then that's all it was - a mistake. He certainly didn't do it to further endanger anyone else (or even himself). The man was in a state of emergency. Cut him some slack. I will shout loud and proud that I would have grabbed my bag too. I completely agree with everything insomn3ak said. And Missouri observer, you and I both know there is never 100% attention payed to the flight attendants during the safety lecture. I wish I could tell you all how differently our minds function when we're in panic mode. You can't always do the "right" thing. You often tend to do the "natural" thing. Whatever is natural for you may not be natural for me. And for as much as the airlines try to direct us in what to do during an emergency, we're all going to react differently. Think about that, and leave this guy alone. He survived. His wife survived. They are making it to Christmas this year.

As I recall, it's part of the flight attendant's pre-flight safety lecture that not only does your seat cushion function as a life preserver in the event of a water landing but that when evacuating the aircraft after an emergency you should leave all your personal belongings behind as you leave. All the attempts sprinkled through here trying to rationalize "grabbing his bag" (saving his clothing to make bandages for his fellow survivors?) are just as foolish as ... stopping to grab his bag was.

Newsweek should hire this Jeb guy. Good on the scene account.

Newsweek should hire this Jeb guy. Great writing.

For anybody here to ridicule someone who had just gone through this, is asinine. The tramua of just having found yourself *alive* after YOUR PLANE SLID OFF THE FREAKING RUNWAY, would have put anybody in a strange sense of being. Maybe it was pure reaction for him to grab something "familiar" to him, after assuring that his loved-one was okay; who is to say?

I for one am just glad that everybody who was aboard this flight is okay, and for this person to share their experience, and then get repremanded somehow, by idiots who think they could have "done it better", is ridiculous. Good on you, for sharing this story. I hope you dismiss any negative comments as being purely ignorant, because clearly these people don't seem to get the big-picture of your ordeal.

Those of you giving the author flack for grabbing his bag would look a whole lot better with duct tape covering your mouths. Considering the chaos on-board, it seems highly unlikely that he held up anyone -- what, like he stood in the aisle and blocked people while he unloaded the overhead bin? Right. Most likely, he had a bag at his feet and grabbed it. And, if that's the case, exactly how would that delay anybody? He was in the last row (you may have missed that part in your rush to judgment). People exit via the isles to the emergency exits, not via his seat or row. Based on the idiocy of your comments, my guess is you'd be the cow-like morons standing there shrieking and doing nothing, just like in the movies. Sounds to me like Mr. Tilly stayed calm and got off the plane -- just like he should. Let's hope you, so brave from the podium behind your keyboards -- never face such a situation. Yeah, Merry Christmas.

Ok for Kauai44, i think your assumption does exactly what assumptions do. How do you know that his bag wasnt between his legs as most of us keep our carry on bags. Please save your judgement for some other place and thank God that he spared you from such a terrifying experience.

Thanks Jeb for sharing your experience and you are in our prayers.

Ok for Kauai44, i think your assumption does exactly what assumptions do. How do you know that his bag wasnt between his legs as most of us keep our carry on bags. Please save your judgement for some other place and thank God that he spared you from such a terrifying experience.

Thanks Jeb for sharing your experience and you are in our prayers.

I CANNOT believe you would even admit you managed to grab your back. I hope this didn't delay somebody from exiting the plane and sustaining injury.

Perhaps "shock" might caused such reactions. It's so easy to be high and mighty in hindsight!!! They were in the back of the plane..... the best actions for everyone was to proceed out in an orderly fashion to allow everyone to get out!
The cynicism of ripper's comments, WOW................Merry Christmas!!!
Poughkeepsie observer............

ripper0153....you are either on drugs or just an idiot......I would have loved to be on that flight with you and your bud jeb, because if I had seen you 2 idiots getting your overloaded carryons out of the luggage bin, you both would have been knocked out and left on the plane while everyone else rushed by you with a smile on their face.......knowing what fools you and Jeb are, or were as the case may be

Just what magnitude of a disaster would it take to separate the writer from his phone?

Wow, Mid...okay, since you want to pretend someone's life was put at risk by our friend Jeb's actions, I'm gonna pretend that you were also on that flight and abandoned your wife and kid because you thought 'they wouldn't have a chance..." You had to, of course, so that you'd be alive to tell their story and file a lawsuit on their behalf. Fortunately, while you were in the firehouse sobbing at some flight attendant that your wife and child must have burned and "oh god oh god i couldn't reach them",they walk up and ruin your day - calling you a coward and a sissyman and a self-saving weasel...Shame On YOU, MIdi!! How could you!?! You own wife and child - you slimebag dirtball crybaby penny grubbing cesspit bunger!!

The aircraft is afire and passengers/crew are rushing for the limited remaining exits yet the writer "managed to grab my bag, which had a phone, sweater and jacket"? Grab the wife!! Grab the kids!! Grab the little old lady sitting next to you who's too feeble to rush for the door by herself!! But, grab your bag?! The complete selfishness and foolishness of that action is beyond words. I have a feeling the writer won't be appearing in Reader's Digest with his tale of "American heroism".