The head of a group representing US flight attendants wants the FAA to form a working group to develop solutions that ensure carry-on baggage will not present an obstacle to emergency aircraft evacuations. The call to address possible safety risks of overhead luggage comes in the aftermath of the May 5 emergency landing of Aeroflot flight SU124, which killed 41 people when a Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 crashed upon landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, 27 min. after taking off for a scheduled flight to Murmansk. In a May 8 letter to FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell,Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) national president Lori Bassani wrote that video footage and witness statements from survivors show that passengers attempted to retrieve their overhead baggage while the aircraft was going up in flames, crowding aisles and exits, and preventing others from evacuating. “The likelihood that some passengers were intent on retrieving their carry-on baggage undoubtedly contributed to the pandemonium of a stressful and panicked emergency evacuation, and tragically may have contributed to a number of deaths,” Bassani wrote. The APFA chief said that overhead baggage likely was also an issue during the US Airways “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency water landing in 2009, during which passengers were photographed holding backpacks and suitcases on the wings of an Airbus A320 as it floated in New York’s Hudson River following a bird strike.<br/>
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Airlines operating in Britain should pay a seat levy to cover the costs of getting passengers home in case a carrier goes bust, a government commissioned review said Thursday. The recommendations seek to even out anomalies in protection for British travelers, highlighted when Monarch collapsed in 2017, but airlines rejected the review’s proposed “airline seat levy” which it said would cost less than 50 pence per passenger. “Although airline insolvencies are relatively rare... they do happen – and at times have required government to step in to repatriate passengers at great cost to the taxpayer,” said Peter Bucks, who chaired the review. British transport minister Chris Grayling said he would consider the proposals by the Airline Insolvency Review, which was set up by finance minister Philip Hammond after the government and the Civil Aviation Authority had to step in to help repatriate Monarch customers. British holidaymakers who are booked onto a package holiday have what is called Air Travel Organiser’s License (ATOL) protection, ensuring they can return home and do not lose money. Monarch, which had both ATOL-protected and flight-only customers, highlighted the discrepancy in British law. <br/>