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Pilot calls for lockable lockers to ease evacuation procedures
The pilot who criticised passengers when they stopped to grab luggage as they escaped from a burning plane has called for ‘lockable lockers’ to be installed.
Chris Henkey, who was hailed a hero after bringing the British Airways aircraft to a halt and ordering an evacuation as it caught fire on the runway at Las Vegas, in September, said the issue of people stopping to get their luggage was ‘a safety aspect – and it needs to be looked at’.
The aircraft’s 157 passengers, 10 crew and three pilots, all heading to Gatwick, all escaped safely, but photos showed many passengers carrying luggage as they escaped to safety, which Mr Henkey said was dangerous.
"It’s clear passengers should not be taking their luggage with them," he said.
"The flight wasn’t completely full," he told Radio 4’s Today programme.
"Those people would have got battered down in a rush. It is a safety aspect and it needs to be looked at."
He told Today the cockpit was surprised at what was going on. "We could hear screaming and shouting at the back.
"The interesting thing is that initially we didn’t know what was happening. It was only when one of the co pilots went to check out what was going on that we realised how severe it was."
Fourteen people picked up minor injuries during the evacuation. The pilot was later applauded by passengers as they were gathered in an airport building.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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