American Airlines Passengers Defy Orders to Leave Belongings and Move During Chaotic Plane Evacuation: WATCH
“Get the f--- out!” a voice yells in footage of the incident, which took place at San Francisco International Airport after smoke was detected from a passenger's laptop
Passengers on an American Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport failed to evacuate promptly after smoke was detected on a flight Friday, July 12.
Footage captured by one of the travelers, Jan Jankai, shows a flight attendant repeatedly shouting, “Go out! Go forward! Do not take your bags!”
The passengers at the back of the cabin appear unable to move as the occupants of the rows ahead are ignoring the crew’s instructions and trying to retrieve their carry-on bags, blocking the aisles.
“Leave your f---ing bags!” another voice from the rear of the cabin can be heard yelling. “Get the f--- out!”
The chaos continues as passengers defy orders and another crew member announces over the speaker, “Evacuate. Don’t get your things. Let’s go. Do not get your stuff.”
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The video above also shows frantic cries of “Leave everything!” and “Get out!” as people are guided off the plane.
American Airlines told PEOPLE in a statement, ““During boarding of American Airlines flight 2045 with service from San Francisco (SFO) to Miami (MIA) smoke was reported from inside a customer’s bag."
A more dangerous scenario was thankfully avoided. "The bag was quickly removed by our crew members and all customers exited the aircraft," the statement continues. "We thank our crew members for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The airline added that while exiting the aircraft, an Airbus A321, one customer sustained minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
Some passengers deplaned via an emergency slide, while others used the jetbridge. The flight departed later that evening with a new aircraft.
Jankai told ABC News that he and his family boarded the flight around 1 p.m. on Friday.
"When we got to the back of the plane, we already started to smell something like burnt cables," he said to the outlet.
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Jankai, who was sitting next to his father, said the smoking laptop belonged to the passenger behind them.
"And then five seconds later, flames were coming out of his and my seat, mostly out of his seat. It was a huge flame like a flash flame that went up all the way up to the ceiling," Jankai recalled.
"Oh my God, so many people took their bags, so many people took their bags out of the overhead compartment,” he added. “I was also just screaming at one point — just leave your bags and get out.”
Earlier this year, 379 people were evacuated correctly and survived after a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane burst into flames on a Tokyo runway.
All crew members and passengers on the JAL plane were safely evacuated after a collision with a smaller aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. In footage shared on social media, flames engulfed the aircraft as passengers ran for safety.
The incident occurred on January 2 after JAL flight 516 struck a Japan Coast Guard plane carrying resources for Japan’s earthquake relief efforts, CNN and BBC both reported.
Five out of 6 people on the Coast Guard plane died in the accident, according to public broadcaster NHK, per Reuters. The pilot was severely injured and treated in a Tokyo hospital, according to the BBC.
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