What percentage of idiots travel by air?

No idea.

This week we got an accurate count of hoe many idiots intended to travel from Vegas to London, though.

Consider: take off was aborted due to engine failure and the plane is on fire. what does an idiot do? They gather their carry-on luggage before evacuating the plane that is on fire.

Look, if you had your purse or laptop bag at your feet and grabbed it as you ran for the exit, fine. But if you're going to stand in the aisle, unlatch the overhead bin and get your luggage down, you'd better not do it unless you want to risk getting trampled in the process.

Besides, the emergency slides do not take luggage into account. It's more of a controlled fall than a slide. You can easily get hurt or injure someone else with your carry-on.

Here's a related thought:

Suppose you are involved in an incident where the plane does land safely, but you need to evacuate. Further suppose the plane burns down completely, or it sinks (as happened on the Hudson). Either way your luggage, carry-on and/or checked, is lost. If you're a woman and left your purse behind, you may not even have anything with you but the clothes you're wearing.

What happens next? Does the airline provide some means to get new clothes for a few days at least? Will their insurance cover your losses? What about important documents you may have left behind, like all your ID, credit cards and passport?

IMO, this is something the flying public should know beforehand.

I don't suggest it be published in the instructions booklets, or even in the airline's in-flight magazine, but the info should be available for interested passengers, perhaps on the airline's website. I am sure every airline has plans or procedures in place for what to do in such cases,

Grabbing your luggage in an emergency evacuation is extreme.
On the flip side
Most people have their daily medication in their carry on
During an emergency, have to stay seated.
Therefore when emergency evac anounced
3 choices
Evacuate without daily medication. best solution but it depends on how crucial that medication is
During evac, get up , open case to remove medication then evacuate. bad idea , takes too long
Just grab your suitcase during evac, a compromise that may get you and others killed

Quote: terapined

Most people have their daily medication in their carry on

There are ways around it.

For one thing, if it's not life-threatening to go without your meds for a day or two, just leave them.

Next, when I travel abroad I take a small bag about half again the size of a letter-sized envelope, though much thicker, where I keep passport, customs and immigration forms, cash, boarding pass, baggage claim checks, and a pen. I put it in the seat pocket during flight. It's small and easy to get in case of an evacuation.

I'll get a new one, about the same size, but with a wrist strap. And I'll carry it now in all flights. I should add my driver's license, a credit card and a debit card, plus my small container of aspirin I take with me on all trips. People who take meds can carry a supply for a day or two that way, or in a fanny pack strapped to their waist. They should also bring along their doctors' prescription just in case.

they would all agree with you: Others should not take their luggage or impede them in any way.

Look folks: some real world considerations. during cruise ship fires or the sinkings of large ferries, there will be groups of people relieving others of their wallets, jewelry, etc. those groups don't necessarily see any special survival odds they just see no need to survive a sinking ferryboat as paupers.

If I am ever on a cruise ship during a general emergency, I'll have my life vest on, but uninflated. Under the life vest will be the largest kknife I could find... just in case I run into someone interested in wallets and jewelry.

an airplane.. I will leave my luggage behind.

Quote: Fleastiff

If I am ever on a cruise ship during a general emergency, I'll have my life vest on, but uninflated.

Plenty have drowned trying to get out of a flooded cabin with am immersion suit on.

FWIW, I wear a belly bag with wallet, ID, passport, smart phone, emergency meds whenever I fly. Sometimes on a cruise ship just for convenience, but that stuff is usually in the room safe on a ship. In the belly bag, so I can grab n go if I get the chance. They seem to expect you to return to your cabin and get your life jacket in an emergency anyway, so I figure there should be an extra 20 seconds to unlock and grab it. If I can't return, then I just can't.

Anything happening on a cruise ship is likely to provide sufficient warning for a quick trip for vital documents, some cash to buy a bottle of water, a flash light, etc. Life vests are, I believe, usually stored in the state rooms but also elsewhere aboard the vessel. Would you also equip yourself with a weapon such as an object made famous by mystery writers, the famed "blunt object"? I did not know that there are often gangs that prey on escaping passengers. It is said that when the Estonia sank, mainly Latvian thugs demanded watches and jewelry even though their chances of escaping were not all that great. It was news to me that such a situation would arise, but apparently it did. Then of course there is a difference between a high speed RORO ferry boat and a cruise ship.

Just as most airplanes land uneventually, I imagine that most cruise ships have harmonious voyages without any fires, sickness or loss of power. One should go thru life looking on the "half full" side, but not unaware of evil. The waters around Venezulea and Guatemala are pirate havens for smaller yachts. Haiti has had yacht attacks and even the peaceful Grenadines had a yachting couple robbed at the point of a machete. In Panama outboard engines are so valuable to thieves that they have become quite creative in using storms to gain access to an engine, even if it maroons an entire community.

Of course many members of this board would probably want to head immediately to the cruise ship's Sports Book to get good odds on whether the ship sinks or floats but I'm not that extreme a gambler.

Quote: Nareed

This week we got an accurate count of hoe many idiots intended to travel from Vegas to London, though.

.

Maybe GE and Boeing are the idiots.
FAA predicted this accident

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/14/exclusive-boeing-and-ge-warned-about-airplane-engine-that-exploded.html

As I understand it, the folks were able to grab their carry on bags while waiting in the queue to get out the door. The entire plane was emptied in under 5 minutes. If there's one thing Londoners are good at, it's queuing up.