The International Air Transport Association has launched a new passenger safety campaign, “Save a Life, Not a Bag”, in response to the growing incidents of passengers taking their cabin baggage when instructed to evacuate an aircraft.

During an evacuation, cabin crew instruct passengers to leave all baggage behind and move quickly to the nearest usable emergency exit. For commercial aircraft to achieve certification, the requirement is that it must be fully evacuated in 90 seconds or less with only half of the exits usable. Cabin crew are trained to quickly and safely implement this in service.

A number of recent airline incidents, however, has highlighted that not all passengers are following crew instructions and as a result delaying the evacuation process and endangering passengers and crew.

Videos from the American Airlines incident at Denver International Airport in July 2025 when passengers were forced to evacuate the aircraft after an aborted takeoff, for example, highlight the problem, with most passengers carrying their cabin baggage as they came down the emergency slides.

Videos from the evacuation of the Delta Air Lines regional jet incident in February 2025 at Toronto International Airport, when the aircraft encountered a hard landing and came to a halt upside down, also showed passengers leaving with their baggage. In the latest example, when a Frontier Airlines aircraft struck a person on the runway at Denver, passengers were also seen disembarking down slides carrying their baggage, while some stopped to take pictures.

In contrast, passengers involved in the January 2024 runway collision of a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 and a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport highlighted what all passengers should be doing — obeying crew instructions. All 367 passengers and 12 crew onboard the A350 safely and quickly left the aircraft without their baggage, with both aircraft destroyed in post-crash fire.

IATA’s campaign, which is supported by aviation safety regulators including in the US and Europe, reinforces what passengers are meant to do when instructed to evacuate — follow crew instructions, leave all baggage behind and move quickly to the nearest usable exit.

Stopping to collect cabin baggage from overhead bins can cause delays and block aisles, while carrying bags can cause people to fall, obscure exit pathway lighting and catch on seats or fixtures as well as puncture evacuation slides.

“We are seeing an increasing number of passengers not following flight crew instructions during emergencies,” says Bryan Bedford, administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration. “In those moments, compliance is critical. Passengers must act quickly, follow instructions without hesitation and leave all belongings behind. Safety is a shared responsibility, and informed, attentive passengers help ensure a faster, safer evacuation for everyone onboard,” he says.

The campaign is encouraging passengers to keep essential items, such as passport, money and medication secure on their person before takeoff and landing. Passengers must pay attention to crew, leave all baggage behind, not film or take photographs, keep moving and exit quickly.

The Save A Life, Not A Bag initiative follows recent passenger research conducted by IATA in the US, UK, UAE and Singapore which raised concerns. While 80 per cent of those surveyed claimed to know what to do in an emergency evacuation, only 61 per cent correctly answered that they should leave all personal items and exit the aircraft. Some 33 per cent said they had seen reports of passengers taking their baggage during an evacuation and, of these, 22 per cent indicated they were likely to do the same.

In addition, only 18 per cent were aware that aircraft evacuation procedures were designed around a 90-second safety benchmark, with 38 per cent believing it to be three minutes or more. Some 60 per cent said they would be less likely to take baggage if essential small items were already secured on their person.

“The majority of passengers know what to do in an accident. There is, however, a significant gap in knowledge among some travellers that could result in disaster,” says Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice-president operations, safety and security.

He adds: “Save a Life, Not a Bag is meant to be a blunt reminder of what is at stake for everyone in the rare event of an evacuation.”