Passenger panic adds to plane evacuation woes

Passengers panicking during evacuation of a plane could pose a greater danger, a fire services commander said, as 11 were injured during evacuation from a Cathay Pacific flight last Saturday when the pilot aborted its takeoff at the Hong Kong International Airport.

The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, carrying 17 crew and 293 passengers, was set to depart for Los Angeles at 12.05am Saturday but takeoff was aborted when crew detected a technical issue.

Passengers exited the plane using five door escape slides.

However, videos posted online show disorderly scenes of people bumping into each other at the bottom of the slides, with some hitting the ground on their head. Some can be seen leaving with their carry-on luggage, while a few are seen throwing their suitcases down the chutes.

Sunny Wong Sze-lut, divisional commander (air cargo) of the Fire Services Department, said firefighters were notified at 12.41am about a plane landing gear fire alarm and seven fire trucks were deployed to the site in four minutes.

"The enkindle may also influence the speed of evacuation and passengers' panic could be more hazardous," he added. He said most of the injured suffered abrasions, with only a small number experiencing sprains.

"Twelve aircraft wheels were blown out and the temperature of the wheels was as high as 100 degrees Celsius," he said.

Warren Chim Wing-nin, spokesman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Aircraft Division, said it was normal for wheels to experience blowouts during aircraft emergency braking and assured there are safety guarantees for abrupt braking.

All affected passengers were arranged overnight hotel stays and solutions were provided for those with connecting flights, Cathay said.

The airline also said that nine of the injured passengers who received treatment at hospitals were discharged on Saturday morning and the flight took off from Hong Kong at 10.12am the same day.

Also, a Cathay flight bound for Los Angeles, CX880, on Sunday night was found to have a technical issue where a water tank leaked before departure.

The plane, set to depart at midnight, was seen leaking water from multiple spots, according to an online video. Cathay said that the incident was caused by a damaged water tank, which resulted in leakage during the water injection period. After about 12 hours' delay, the flight left yesterday noon on another aircraft.