Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru/Dubai
Mangalore / Dubai, Aug 5 : In a surprising revelation that has lately come to light, some of the Indian passengers who were aboard the Emirates Flight EK521, which was flying from Thiruvananthapuram, crash-landed and caught fire, instead of hurrying to get down from the plane to save themselves as well as others, preferred to take hand luggage first and then deboard !
During this process, a passenger inside the plane filmed a video showing people screaming and rushing to get their luggage.
This video was shared by a flight attendant from another airline company on their Facebook timeline with a caption that referred to the Indian passengers as "f***ing rats" and "stupid" for trying to get to their baggage instead of evacuating.
This incident may not not get world-wide attention, but surely will not go down well with the fellow Indian community worldwide.
There are a number of occasions (rather every trip) from Dubai to Mangaluru or Mangaluru to Dubai when one can see some of the passengers removing the seat-belt and trying to retrieve their hand baggage from the overhead cabins even before the flight comes to a halt! This is the common scenario one can see on a regular basis on this route. Flight attendants sometimes even lose their patience and reprimand them considering the security risk. But passengers will never learn. In front of foreign passengers, such attitude demeans the entire Indian community.
In the case of Emirates crash-landing incident at Dubai, one can clearly see the selfishness of a few passengers who scramble to deplane safely along with their hand bags, putting others' lives at risk.
However, while condemning this behaviour, many NRIs have also condemned the racial attack on Indians in general. But the person who posted the comment on Facebook quickly clarified the post after facing the heat from other Indians.
"Rats is a term I use for anyone who behaves like an idiot," the flight attendant posted. The message finally ended with an apology. But there was no 'sorry' for the racist remarks.
The cabin crew of Emirates 521 did a remarkable job in saving passengers' lives. This courageous act of the crew members has been widely appreciated across the social media.
Grateful passengers have recalled how the cabin crew guided passengers to jump out of the aircraft and were themselves the last ones to get off.
"They did a commendable job. The cabin crew could be seen running towards the emergency exits and opened the doors asking people to get out. They were the last to get out," says a passenger.
In the process of saving lives, an Emirates national, firefighter Jassim Issa Al Balooshi, was martyred. His bravery has been widely hailed by the rulers and other leaders of the UAE.
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