Plane Crash Survivors Endanger Lives to Get Their Bags (Sermon Illustration)

Why are we so obsessed with our possessions?

Even in life-or-death emergencies, people will risk their lives—and even the lives of those around them—just to save their stuff.

Tim Challies wrote a great article describing one example of this in a recent plane crash:

On August 3, 2016, Emirates airlines flight 521 crashed at Dubai International Airport. The pilots had just set down the plane when they received a warning that they had landed too late—they would run out of runway before the plane could come to a safe stop. They initiated the go-around procedure which would allow them to lift off, circle the airport, and try again. The plane rose off the runway and began to climb, but then suddenly sank back down and crashed into the ground. It skidded for 800 meters before coming to rest. The crew took immediate action and, remarkably, all 300 people safely evacuated the plane before it was consumed by flames.

Had you been an onlooker watching the evacuation, you would have noticed a troubling phenomenon. Many of the people pouring out of that plane and sliding down the emergency chutes were clutching bags and suitcases. A video taken aboard the plane shows the immediate aftermath of the crash and in the chaos passengers are seen opening the overhead luggage compartments and hauling down their luggage. Seconds later, as they exit the plane, flight attendants are yelling, “Leave your bags behind!” Yet photographs show dazed passengers wandering the tarmac with their bags in tow.

Flight 521 is not the only time this phenomenon has been observed…

It hardly needs to be said that grabbing your suitcase during an evacuation is a bad idea… It blocks the aisle as you reach overhead to retrieve it, it slows you down as you make your way to and through the exit, it becomes a dangerous object hurtling down the evacuation slide. In a situation in which every second counts, a suitcase is a dangerous impediment that can kill you and the people around you. And still people can’t bear to be without them. A study by the National Transportation Safety Board found that almost half of passengers attempt to retrieve their bags during an emergency… It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? ¹

1. Read the entire article here: http://www.challies.com/articles/lay-aside-every-suitcase

Here’s the Video Footage:

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