'A Sudden, Terrible Stillness'

What's fascinating, and not a little bit frightening, is the huge chorus of comments defending this guy's decision to take his carry-on bag with him. The cold, hard, rude, raw truth is that taking a bag during an evacuation is not -- and can never be -- a defensible decision. In a crash you should ALWAYS leave your bag. This isn't a matter of personal opinion. It is long since settled fact. There is an extensive professional literature in the field of air safety. The FAA, the NTSB, the aviation authorities in other countries, the airframe manufacturers, the airlines themselves, all have run study after study, simulation after simulation, rehearsal after rehearsal, and investigation after investigation of real crashes. What all of those studies show -- what ALL of them show -- is that taking bags slows down the evacuation at a time when every last second counts. Even if the bag is "right there", as all of these apologists are saying, a carried bag can be dropped where it impedes the feet of other evacuees. Its straps and handles can snag on protrusions or wreckage. Bags MUST be left behind. If someone has something in a bag like life-critical medication, that's a clear signal that they've stowed the medication in the wrong place. It should be in a pocket or a necklace container on their person. And for those who say that Jeb's decision was smart because it was cold out and his bag had a sweater in it, well, consider that third degree burns will be a lot worse discomfort, for a lot longer, than ten minutes of shivering. Folks, this isn't rocket science. The professional flight attendants who have contributed to this thread have said it clearly and repeatedly -- your safety and that of others is critically reduced by taking bags in an evacuation. Listen to these trained professionals and LEAVE THE FREAKING BAG BEHIND.

No life? Functioning social skills and a heart? Coward? Yep, that???s me!
I wasn???t angered enough (by the dramatic and inaccurate ramblings of someone who appears to have taken the events of a near tragedy to further their career) to take a few minutes out of my day to respond. How does someone ???smell burning plastic??? when ???thankfully, the fire was still outside the airplane??? and ???out quickly because we???d been in the last row seats???.
I apologize for not having acknowledged the extreme fear experienced by those individuals and families unfortunate enough to be trapped inside the crumpled wreckage. Their lungs filling with smoke from the increasingly spreading fire and unable to see in the darkness as they hope for their turn to get out and away from the aircraft. ???Thank you??? not only to the crew but also to the ???regular??? passengers who opened the window exit opposite the flames offering escape to countless people and to those who stayed at the scene guiding people away from the aircraft and assisting those with injuries instead of running away immediately.
I also apologize that this posting is a cumulative annoyance of the press dramatizing some stories while giving little or no coverage to the numbers of people dead every year from suicide, drunk drivers, domestic violence, industrial pollution or genocide. Numbers which, in any single year, exceed the numbers of military casualties during the past four years.
I guess someone who chooses to stay in a profession where my primary responsibility is the safety of total strangers or ???arrogant, unskilled and overpaid pilots??? by protecting the cockpit at all costs must be a total idiot. I work everyday knowing the first people killed during 9/11 were the flight attendants who had their throats slit and that the last person off a burning, crumpled aircraft would be me. We don???t claim to be heroes or even unusually brave. We???re just doing our job.
As for God???s hand in this???sliding through dirt rather than staying on pavement had to greatly reduce the amount of jet fuel which could have ignited and helped cushion the impact. Not having left the ground and stopping within a few hundred of a fire station was just short of a miracle. Or was it?

Can anyone explaine the word, "noone"? I have three big, fat dictionaries and it is not to be found.

I Fly Continental quite regularly and to be honest, I am not surprised, their suspension is always rather messed up. If I have it my way I wont fly continental again!

Jeb, First of all, you write awesome. Second of all, God had his had on all of you during this ordeal. You were there, not these critics. Who cares what they think. Have an awesome Christmas and enjoy your family.

Jeb, First of all, you write awesome. Second of all, God had his had on all of you during this ordeal. You were there, not these critics. Who cares what they think. Have an awesome Christmas and enjoy your family.

Thank You skysmile. For those of you who say I would do this or I would do that in an evacuation and it would only take a second, clearly, you do not realize what that 1 or 2 seconds means to the Flight Attendants. If we have 90 seconds to evac that plane and you grabbed ur bag or purse yes u are ok now but once u get off the plane we have to stay there and run back through the smoke filled burning cabin to make sure there is no one left or to help elderly passengers who just may need that 3 seconds that u took up to grab your bag. Then, we have to check on our flight deck crew and try to grab all the first aid items to help YOU if we even make it off the plane. MAYBE. Now we are that fatality they talk about on the news .......but at least u got your bag!

God Bless you and your family and I am so glad that everyone made it out alive. I know this is something I would never want to expirence.

WOW thats all I keep saying to myself is WOW. NOT about the article, about the comments!! It is amazing to me the things people will write and say. I guess maybe its because you dont know any of these people and well no one is going to know who you are right? I think it is disgusting that "JTilly" even felt they needed to defend themselves to you idiots. Here is what I have to say to Mr & Mrs JTilly "You can not have a battle of wits with unarmed people" these people questioning your choice to grab your bag are disgusting and obviously have no life of their own. This is what I can tell you, I lost my only son to Cancer last year a month after he turned 11. You know what I thought of when I read this article, I thought "wow that woman with the 2 children must be so relieved after that horrible ordeal she and BOTH her children were able to go on to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones" i also thought "wow isnt that amazing the wife in that crazy time of panic had enough wherewithall to tell her husband she loved him" I thought "wow im so glad that pilot was well enough to use his cell phone and call his family and let them know he was ok, because when the story hit the media and his family started panicing and thinking the worst and being unable to reach him because he was at the hospital in the middle of an xray or catscan they would already know he was ok". Yes I thought about a lot of things and the actions that were taken but NEVER once did I question what the people in the situation they were in, that I nor anyone else (for the most part) leaving comments were in DID. That to me shows the humanity and compassion of people these days, or lack thereof and it's disgusting. I have faced the worst thing a person can face the loss of a child, and is that what it takes to have some compassion and understanding for people? That's pretty sad! So to all of you who have chosen to leave your pety ignorant comments, please continue going on living your pety, ignorant lives. To the rest of you including Mr & Mrs JTilly, I hope you have the most amazing holiday season!! And please STOP defending yourselves!!! There is nothing to defend!

Why would mckeand make the stupid comment below? Jeb, thank y ou for your accound, it was not mysongenistic or misguided, just an account of what happened to you and the fact that your glad you are alive. Merry Christmass to yo u and your family. And to mckeand with the attitude you have I hope you don't work on any of the planes that I fly on, Man or Woman.

wow.... I think a few of you need to chill out a bit. Stuff happens in life, good and bad. You just have to know that each day that goes smoothly is a blessed day.

Its great you get a chance to tell us your story. Some others never get that chance. Life is so fragile. Some of the commenters needs to remember that and quit being so harsh in their comments and thoughts. I am tired of everyone being so angry all the time.

I am glad that everyone made it out alive and why can't we just be thankful for that?

wow.... I think a few of you need to chill out a bit. Stuff happens in life, good and bad. You just have to know that each day that goes smoothly is a blessed day.

Its great you get a chance to tell us your story. Some others never get that chance. Life is so fragile. Some of the commenters needs to remember that and quit being so harsh in their comments and thoughts. I am tired of everyone being so angry all the time.

I am glad that everyone made it out alive and why can't we just be thankful for that?

re BillH3: youre obviously dead inside. people dont rehash tragedy to see how they lost control, but to simply help people come to terms with the fact that they could have indeed died. i think everyone on that plane knew they had no control, all that does is make it scarier. discussing what happened afterward is human nature and these people are a much healthier version of humans than you are. Glad no one died

Well, after reading these responses to the article........Wow, what a bunch of hyprocrites criticizing the guy for grabbing his bag! And the same hypocrites are actually praising the pilots for "having all the answers and doing a great job" in the fact that no one died. You morons need to realize that the accident was the pilots' fault in the first place! In the United States, 90% of all airplane crashes are due to pilot error, whereas only 10% are because of a mechanical malfunction -- all of which is due to the strict maintainence standards imposed by the FAA. However, the story is very different if you're flying in or out of Asia, because most Asian airlines are very poorly maintained and the chance of having a mechanical problem are much higher.
The bottom line is this: pilots are not as knowledgeable, experienced as competent as you people think! I used to work as a security screen at DIA, and more than once I have come nose to nose with pilots smelling like alcohol after landing and coming off the plane! These are the most arrogant, selfish and overpaid people you'll ever meet, but the crowd is always pleased because they do a great job putting a plastic smile on their faces when greeting you! Next time you're on a plane -- take a careful look at the person whose hands you're putting your life in -- trust me, you're better off flying the plane yourself! This accident is a lawsuit waiting to happen and I hope Continental gets sued for every last dollar it has -- seems like a fair price for almost killing over a 100 passengers! Wake up, people, the world is NOT your oyster!!

Well, after reading these responses to the article........Wow, what a bunch of hyprocrites criticizing the guy for grabbing his bag! And the same hypocrites are actually praising the pilots for "having all the answers and doing a great job" in the fact that no one died. You morons need to realize that the accident was the pilots' fault in the first place! In the United States, 90% of all airplane crashes are due to pilot error, whereas only 10% are because of a mechanical malfunction -- all of which is due to the strict maintainence standards imposed by the FAA. However, the story is very different if you're flying in or out of Asia, because most Asian airlines are very poorly maintained and the chance of having a mechanical problem are much higher.
The bottom line is this: pilots are not as knowledgeable, experienced as competent as you people think! I used to work as a security screen at DIA, and more than once I have come nose to nose with pilots smelling like alcohol after landing and coming off the plane! These are the most arrogant, selfish and overpaid people you'll ever meet, but the crowd is always pleased because they do a great job putting a plastic smile on their faces when greeting you! Next time you're on a plane -- take a careful look at the person whose hands you're putting your life in -- trust me, you're better off flying the plane yourself! This accident is a lawsuit waiting to happen and I hope Continental gets sued for every last dollar it has -- seems like a fair price for almost killing over a 100 passengers! Wake up, people, the world is NOT your oyster!!

BillH3,
Your observation is mysogenistic and misguided. The reality is, you don't have any control, so it doesn't really matter if your are "monitoring" the aircraft's performance. Typically, crashes are pilot error and more rare, mechanical error. The planes are well designed by the best engineers, including women engineers like myself. Perhaps, the "women" in the plane noticed something amiss, but rightly, decided there was nothing they could do to alter or change the performance of the aircraft, therefore, didn't worry about it. Clearly, you and the people you conversed with are control freaks. Lesson for you, you aren't in control. Period.