Is Japan Plane Rescue Operation A Lesson For Indian Passengers?

The cabin crew of the Japan Airlines aircraft involved in the collision and subsequent fire at Tokyo's Haneda Airport demonstrated remarkable efficiency by swiftly evacuating all 367 passengers.

All 379 people on JAL flight 516, including eight children under the age of two, were safely evacuated from the burning passenger plane, according to the airline.

However, the latest video circulating on social media shows the maturity exhibited by the passengers, which might have otherwise resulted in a disaster.

"This is a miracle that all passengers aboard escaped from the burning airliner. They listened to the instruction to leave their baggage behind. I hear a loud cry shout by a child in the video "Let me out here" in Japanese but all crews stayed calm," a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, said.

The aviation sector and travellers alike can draw valuable insights from the impressive passenger discipline and the professional conduct demonstrated by the JAL crew during the evacuation of JL Flight 516 (A350-900/JA13XJ).

Why This Incident Can Become A Lesson For Aviation Industry and Passengers?
The success or failure of an evacuation can also hinge on the attitude of the passengers. In emergencies, they abandoned their belongings. Regardless of the value of items like a MacBook or Gucci bag, they knew that it could be replaced, unlike human lives.

In the recent incident, there is no footage of passengers struggling with carry-ons or heavy bags. Although they may feel a twinge of regret for their lost possessions, they are alive to contemplate what they will acquire with the reimbursement for their losses. Japan's adherence to rules, coupled with the likely directives from flight attendants, likely prevented anyone from succumbing to the temptation of retrieving their bags and impeding the evacuation process.

Many on social media are wondering whether such behaviour from passengers can be expected from passengers from other parts of the world including India.

A user named Vijay Balasubramaniam said on X: "Can't imagine myself as an @IndiGo6E passenger based on my past experiences, were the people's rush to take the hand bag and stand in Q once the flight lands!!!"

Lamenting the usual behaviour of the Indian passengers, another user said, "We Indians stand up before the plan stops completely as if we will be left out if remain seated...in this kind of situation there would be stampede only .."

In fact, this incident can be a lesson for India's aviation sector. "Regulations are there for a reason, but passenger attitude matters. In India, if there's an emergency, the first response is to grab your handbag from the overhead bin and try to escape, which shouldn't be done. and I'm sure, in the Japan flight's case, there was discipline among the passengers which allowed the cabin crew to evacuate everyone in such a short window of time," News9 quoted Jitender Bhargava, Former Executive Director, Air India, as saying.

He also pointed out that the cabin crew is there for passengers' safety.