'A Sudden, Terrible Stillness'

kimb33, if I was behind you trying to get out of a burning aircraft while you fumbled with your bags in front of me, it would most certainly be "my business". Evacuating a burning aircraft is one situation where you do need to worry about what other people are doing.

I LOVE the news managment........JUST LIE. @0 years ago, I worked for TRI-RAIL in Miami as a locomotive engineer. We were northbound and AMTRAK 91 (the Silver Star) was southbound when AMTRAK hit a gasoline truck in Fort Lauderdale at a roadcrossing. My conductor's wife saw it on TV and called the TRI-RAIL office only to be told "TRI-RAIL is experiencing momenatry signal difficulties.". She went off and told the clerk "It looks like a G-D atomic bomb on TV and you're handing out this S---".

Skysmile, thank you for all you do. You and your fellow flight attendants do not have an easy job in the best of times, let alone during an emergency. You are the passengers' best chance to survive an evacuation. You do not get enough credit. The flight attendants in this story performed heroicly, no doubt.

I can't believe that there are people who are so petty as to complain that the guy grabbed his bag on his way out of a burning plane. The plane was on fire! Maybe he was in panic mode, and wasn't thinking clearly, and it was force of habit that caused him to grab the thing he had on the plane with him! The most important thing is that no one was killed or seriously injured. People need to not worry about what other people do, anyway. Whose business is it, anyway? Like they said, (so many other people who have posted comments that I"ve read) they were in the back of the plane, and there is more than one exit. Just rejoice in the fact that God spared all those on that flight that day.
Merry CHRISTmas!

To Lisa, The Tillys and all the other survivors-Thank God you are all alive and are able to celebrate the Holidays with your loved ones . It could have ended up much more tragically than it did. This is what we should all be focusing on here. Happy Holidays All. Remember to hug all your loved ones and be grateful knowing that they are safe this Holiday season.

OMG!! The pilot was talking on a phone while laying on a stretcher!!! Let's put aside the enormous stress that he/she went through, IN SECONDS , to try and calculate how to SAVE their passengers and the fact that they were probably the last one to leave the aircraft because this is part of their job description. What are you thinking SANTORINI- that they are privileged -are you insinuating that they shouldn't be on the phone. They probably were answering the beginning of thousands of questions as to what went wrong. Just BE THANKFUL --ALL OF YOU- THAT HUMAN LIVES WERE SAVED!!!! As for Mr Tilley- thanks for the information and your descriptive tale -which is what it only is -your recollection. I prefer to read the Captain's and First Officer's account for the facts. What is missing from this story is what went on in that cockpit--that is where you will find your true HEROES!! Congratulations to all who are responsible for saving the lives on this flight and countless others through clearheaded , selfless thinking. This is what they are trained for. I know first hand. We will probably find out that it was a defect in the aircraft or the weather and that the crew worked together efficiently and effectively. The proof is in the survival rate. Man against machine . In this case , a mammoth of a machine. Again--BE THANKFUL! To all the crew and passengers of Flight 1404, especially the pilots--may GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Thanks for the blow by blow, too bad Jeb's writing style blew.

I love the dramatics of the passengers. I won't downplay what any of you went through but I disagree that anyone is downplaying what happened (ie the news report). I love how there is no mention of the heroic flight crew (pilots or flight attendants) who undoubtedly saved ALL of your lives and kept injuries to a minimum by utilizing their skills and training. The only mention of them is when they were on back boards. Regardless of how traumatic that experience was you should be thankful for the training and skills of your entire flight crew that saved ALL of your lives. I salute the flight ENTIRE FLIGHT CREW....those men and women who saved your lives.

Manage to grab his bag huh?
That one second it took for him to grab his bag may have been fatal for the last guy waiting for alll those ahead of him taking a second to grab their bags.
Sad.
LONE

I was a little worried that so many people were posting comments defending this man's decision to grab his bag. I am now relieved that most people are saying they would not do what this man did. God forbid I ever have to delare an "Easy Victor" and ask my flight attendants to evacuate the cabin, but I can see most of you would do exactly as instructed and would do whatever you could to assure others have the same chance to evacuate that you do. If someone had been seriously injured because this man impeded the orderly evacuation of the cabin, would you all still defend his action?

Sounds like the left landing gear failed, collapsed? Tire blew out? Maybe the left thrust reverser engaged? Maybe an uncommanded full left rudder, as was the case on the 737's a decade ago...

Manage to get his bags huh?
That one second it may have taken to get his bags may have been fatal for the next guy behind him waiting for all those ahead of him getting their bags.
RHT

Transparency from the Airline, FAA and NTSB is what we ALL expect when an accident occurs. NOT an airline going into Image Damage control. This is great news that everyone is alive. Let's all hold our conclusions until we hear the truth. We have 2 pilots who should know what happened. IF there is a hint of a cover up to protect an airlines image or legal implecation, then we NEED the news to hold everyone accountable....NOT the TRIAL lawyers.

After 8 years as a police officer and more than 35 as a Marine, I have seen people do remarkable things when others around them panic. Some of them I know very well. One was shot in the eye (and lost it) yet still returned fire (13 out of 15 in his pistol) and then in a calm manner, got on the radio and reported the incident. I choose to believe this guy is one of those and I would like to think that I, too, would also try to protect my wife.

I'm angered to read that the author "managed to grab his bag". I'm a flight attendant and in an emergency situation like that, leave ALL your stuff behind. Flight attendants are trained to evacuate passengers off an aircraft in about 90 seconds. Bringing a bag (or getting your stuff out of the overhead bin, which happened on the Air France crash at YYZ) slows the evacuation by blocking the aisles, slowing you down as you attempt to manoeuvre through the aisle and it can injure you when you use the escape slides. The author put himself and others at risk for what? A cellphone, a sweater and a jacket. In this particular situation, the crash was at an airport, air traffic controllers would have already notified the emergency services...the author wasn't at risk of dying of exposure but he still took the time to bring unnecessary items. Perhaps in a more remote environment it would have been necessary but in this particular situation, this passenger made absolutely the wrong decision and endangered those around him.

In an evacuation, just get out of the plane!!!