A Frontier passenger who claims she did exactly what she was supposed to do during an emergency evacuation, leaving her bags behind as instructed, says a Frontier customer service agent later told her it was her fault for not taking her belongings with her.
Frontier Passenger Says Airline Blamed Her For Leaving Bags Behind During Emergency Evacuation
A passenger who was purportedly onboard Frontier Airlines flight 4345, the Airbus A321neo that struck and killed a person on the runway in Denver before an emergency evacuation, has shared a chilling account of what happened onboard and in the hours after.
The most important part first: she praised the pilots and flight attendants for their handling of the emergency.
Posting on Reddit, the passenger said she was seated in 5C and traveling with her infant daughter. She wrote:
“First of all, the pilot was incredible. He was so fast to put the fire out, talk to ATC, communicate with flight attendants, and got us off the plane. His fast, clear decision making was certainly a reason that we are all safe.”
She said she sent the following note to Frontier after the incident:
“Thank you for knowing there were 231 souls on board, not 230. That 1 is the infant I’m holding on my first Mother’s Day. Thank you for thinking so quickly and handling this situation with such clarity. You saved us and I’ll be grateful forever.”
That’s powerful gratitude.
This woman was holding her baby when the aircraft struck the person on the runway. She described the moment of impact this way:
“When the crash happened, my daughter had just fallen asleep on my chest, and I had dozed off. There was a big impact, and then some loud booms as the engine ignited. My first thought was ‘oh my god we are in a crash’ and then, ‘Okay, we are on the ground. We are not falling. My baby is okay. We just need to get off the plane.’”
And then came the part we keep talking about: passengers taking bags during an emergency evacuation.
She said people in the first few rows were trying to get their belongings from the overhead bins, so she used what she called her “most aggressive teacher voice” to get them moving. She then asked the flight attendant how to go down the slide with her baby and was told to put the baby on her lap and jump.
“I was the only parent traveling with an infant, and one of the only passengers who actually followed the flight attendants’ instructions to not take our bags with us down the evacuation slide. My only thoughts were to get my baby off the plane, and fast, so everyone behind us could get off.”
That is exactly what passengers are supposed to do and I commend her for doing the right thing.
And yet, by doing the right thing, she was punished.
Let me note here that there is a chance this story is made up…it’s not like people never make up stuff on Reddit, but the specificity of her post and the follow-up comments that came after lead me to believe that this is a highly plausible account.
Frontier Passenger Says She Was Left Without Diapers, Formula, Medication, Wallet, ID
After the evacuation, she says she and her daughter had no diaper bag, no formula, no baby bottle, no wallet, no ID, no medication, no keys, and no car seat because those items were left onboard in compliance with crew instructions.
Meanwhile, other passengers who ignored instructions had their belongings.
She wrote:
“While my fellow passengers were passing time on their computers, charging their phones, changing into clean clothes, etc, my daughter and I had to fight to receive diapers, wipes, and formula in the airport while we waited for updates.”
She added:
“She had to sit in a dirty diaper for hours as the Denver crew searched the airport, and ended up finding a few old looking diapers that we used. It took longer to get wipes, formula, and we never got a baby bottle, though they found us an old sippy cup we washed and used.”
There was also apparently a passenger with type 1 diabetes who left insulin onboard:
“There was a type 1 diabetic on the plane who left behind her insulin, and the EMTs didn’t have insulin on hand.”
(Maybe U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy should focus on lapses like this instead of courting the companies he regulates to fund his family road trip, but I digress…)
As I’ve said over and over, the safety briefing says leave all belongings behind. Flight attendants scream “leave the bags” during evacuations. That instruction exists for a reason. Bags can slow evacuations, damage slides, trip passengers, and delay people behind you in a smoke-filled cabin.
But if passengers who obey that instruction are then stranded for hours without diapers, formula, medication, identification, wallets, keys, or car seats, then the system is creating a perverse incentive.
The passenger who follows the rules suffers. The passenger who breaks the rules has his phone charger.
This is why people take their items with them.
Oh but wait, it gets even worse.
Frontier Customer Service Allegedly Said It Was Her Fault
The passenger flew out the next morning to Los Angeles and said Frontier refunded the flight (she was traveling on a GoWild pass, so that only meant a refund of the taxes) and issued a $500 flight credit. Fine. But she still needed her belongings and needed to get home from California to Michigan with her infant.
She said she spent four hours dealing with Frontier customer service trying to move her next flight until after she could get her car seat, keys, wallet, and medication back.
Then came the jaw-dropping part:
“I pitched a fit when an agent told me it was my fault I didn’t take my personal items with me off the emergency slide (as I was directed), and had to really fight to not be charged hundreds of dollars for a new flight home once we get our things.”
So let me get this straight, a passenger followed emergency evacuation instructions and left her bags behind. But then a Frontier customer service agent faulted her for not taking those items with her?!
If accurate, that is not only bad customer service, but a dangerous message.
No passenger should ever hear from an airline representative that she should have taken her bags down an emergency evacuation slide. No agent should be suggesting that ignoring flight attendant commands would have been the smarter move.
Wow.
Frontier’s Real Failure Was Emergency Preparedness
To her credit, the passenger did not blame the crew. Quite the opposite. She wrote:
“Our flight crew did absolutely everything they needed to do during an emergency. It is clear they were focused on keeping us safe.”
She also praised the Denver workers who tried to help passengers after the evacuation:
“The Denver crew inside the airport that were working with us were also doing everything they could to run around the airport and find the essentials we needed. They were asking their superiors for water, snacks, and important needs for us. They came around to check on us, and were very kind at Denver.”
But she drew a sharp distinction between frontline employees trying to help and Frontier as a corporation:
“However, I’m am truly shocked at the lack of emergency preparedness by Frontier as a corporation. Regardless of the circumstances, an emergency is bound to happen at some point, and it was as if Frontier corporate had never considered the logistics of a situation like this.”
Exactly.
The gripe is not about whether the person in Denver working the counter could magically produce a car seat, insulin, formula, diapers, and prescription medication in the middle of the night. Instead, it is about whether an airline has a serious emergency response plan for passengers who are instructed to leave everything onboard. That plan should exist…but it seems that that Frontier does not have one.
And that should include:
- diapers
- formula
- basic medication coordination
- replacement car seats
- food + drinks
- mobile phone chargers (of all types)
It should also include hotel and ground transport support and a dedicated customer service line that actually works. There should be a clear process to inventory and return belongings once investigators release the aircraft.
Instead, according to this passenger, the number she was given for special help was useless:
“I was finally given a number to call that was supposed to be specifically for us passengers to get help, however the number was never set up. It was just a bunch of ads that eventually disconnected.”
How embarrassing…
Doing The Right Thing Should Not Be Punished
I lament often that passengers who do the right thing are not punished, but even that is different than punishing passengers who do the right thing.
Here, the passenger summed up the issue perfectly:
“What’s most disheartening is that it feels almost as if we are being punished for doing the right thing and prioritizing a fast and safe evacuation over getting our things.”
What a travesty, and I do not say that lightly.
She added:
“While our fellow passengers were kind to us and generous with the things they had, it was frustrating to have nothing to feed or change my child while they sat with their carry-ons, wallets, phone chargers, and entertainment.”
We can yell at passengers all day long for taking bags during evacuations. I have done it. I will continue to do it. Your roller bag is not worth my life. But airlines like Frontier better come up with a plan very quickly for how they can reconnect personal belongings with passengers in these sorts of events. Otherwise, part of me can hardly blame people for taking their essentials with them.
If you want passengers to leave bags onboard, then you must have a credible plan to care for them afterward.
CONCLUSION
The Frontier crew appears to have done exactly what it needed to do in a terrifying emergency. The pilot stopped the aircraft, communicated clearly, and got passengers off. Flight attendants evacuated the cabin. Emergency responders put out the fire. Everyone onboard survived.
But Frontier’s post-incident response, at least as alleged by this passenger, was not good enough.
A mother with an infant followed evacuation instructions and left her belongings behind. She says she was then left without diapers, formula, medication, wallet, ID, keys, and car seat, while other passengers who ignored instructions had their bags. Then, incredibly, she says a Frontier customer service agent told her it was her fault for not taking her items down the emergency slide.
If true, that is insane.
If airlines want passengers to leave bags behind during emergency evacuations, they must build a system that does not punish those who comply. Otherwise, the next time flight attendants scream “leave the bags,” passengers will remember who actually suffered afterward…
image: Jack Estenssoro, a passenger onboard and talented artist! (@aboywhopaints / Instagram)
Lets also not forget that multiple foreign nationals have been placed into detention when they evacuated flights leaving their passports or other ID documents behind. There are documented cases of this from the BA crash at Heathrow and the Asiana crash in San Francisco.
It is not realistic to expect passengers to evacuate an aircraft without their personal effects. The solution has to be regulatory changes to the density and accessibility of emergency exits, rather than attempting to change passenger behavior that doesn’t want to be changed.
I hear you, but on the other hand, somehow the Japanese are able to do it without taking bags with them?
The Japanese don’t live in a militaristic state where you can find yourself thrown into detention and separated from family (or worse) just because your passport got destroyed in a plane crash. The Japanese also tend not to travel with the huge suitcases that seem to be prevalent in North America. So its not really a fair comparison.
Current evacuation standards are no longer fit for purpose (and this is not the only reason). Crew can no longer evacuate a full aircraft within 90 seconds using half the exits under real world conditions, not even close. It will unfortunately take fatalities for the regulators to recognise and revise this.
IMO passengers in Japan don’t travel with roallaboards carry ons like in the US. Fares tend to include checked bags and Japanese airlines definitely make it a point to getting both you and your bags to the destination in one piece, so there’s a lot more incentive to check than carry on like the way influencers keep promoting as ‘travel hacks’.
There’s no need to pull a big carryon out of the overhead to grab necessities like ID, passport, phone, etc which will likely be on the passenger in a pocket.
Frontier Airlines outsourced many functions to third parties, even ground service at home airport Denver. What can you expect from that ‘Frontier Airlines’ customer service? Frontier got rid of customer service phone line a few years ago!
I understand that ordinary people want to buy the cheapest ticket to save money. However, please use your wisdom. Denver residents are lucky that they have three hub airlines to choose from.
Matt, I know this is a big issue for you, but this is exactly why your position is wrong, to say nothing of extreme evacs in less-certain locations.
You’d trust the least qualified people in the world to reconnect you with potentially life-saving necessities like insulin for a diabetic in a timely manner? And if the plane is destroyed/inaccessible? Would you argue the few seconds (when sitting in a seat waiting to evac) is more valuable than certainty of ongoing life? Do you think the average person agrees? And do you think it’s ultimately rational?
When evacuating a plane, it’s safe to assume (even if it’s not the average case), that the plane is lost/destroyed once you’re off it. You’re out of your mind if you think grabbing a purse, diaper bag, backpack, etc with critical items isn’t the right move when you’re in survival mode. The added time/bulk of a single bag is worth the risk every time. Besides, it’s not like you’re immediately sprinting down the aisle– vast majority of the plane has several minutes in their seat before being able to move.
Would you not take a second to pull insulin or ultra-critical medicine out of your carry on and into your pocket? Would you not reflexively put your phone in your pocket? If yes, your position is compromised. Jail, fine, etc is well worth it to stay alive and survive whatever comes next. Not every evac is on a runway– does your position change if you’re in water or remote land? Or are you going to be the idiot with the clothes on your back and nothing else once outside?
Genuine questions, mostly from the perspective of the average person who hears evac and assumes the worst rather than the near certainty of getting all your stuff back quickly, undamaged, etc in a nice airport terminal in the first world.
I’m keeping my shoes, passport, and wallet on, and intend to wear/take them with me.
Indeed. Shoes stay on, wallet stays in one pocket, phone in the other. If flying internationally, the phone shares the pocket with the passport. That way ID & Money & Communication is covered.
In the age of AI, I find it harder and harder to believe any stories like this.
It’s possible…would not surprise me as much as F9’s response!
This should go in the safety briefing:
“In the event of an evacuation, you must leave your bags behind. Failure to follow this instruction puts the lives of you and others at risk and will result in criminal prosecution and a lifetime ban on flying with us. During any evacuation, the overhead bins will be locked and cannot be opened. You will be reunified with your possessions as soon as possible.”
This was a failure both for DIA and Frontier, their home base.
They should certainly have spare baby supplies. That’s obvious for any airline, any airport.
Insulin is a bit trickier, but DIA has medics; there should be some coordination between the air carrier and medics either at the airport or close by. They could have figured it out but they chose not to.
Phone chargers make sense as well. It’s not that big of an investment.
I know, many airlines outsource their ground staff. But they can still accomplish these tasks with outsourced ATW staff. They can still stock baby supplies, phone chargers, have a phone number to call for medications like insulin.
We all know the instructions: ‘Unfasten belts. Stay Low. This Way. LEAVE EVERYTHING.’
That should never change.
It sounds not just plausible, but par for the corporate course. The blue collar workers on the ground (or the plane in this case) do their best to accommodate people around Ivory Tower Management behavior and decisions that were pulled straight out of someone’s backside.
It’s audacious of u 2 suggest “…there is a chance this story is made up….”
It’s more likely than not it wasn’t made up and was only a matter of time.
Solution: Lock o/h bins. It’s simple.
I’m just covering myself because we’ve seen a lot of raconteurs who lie on reddit, most recently with WOH changes.
I keep my wallet, passport, phones, a charging brick, and a couple other essentials in the seat pocket. They move to my pant and shirt pockets if there’s an emergency.
I don’t blame Frontier for not having important items ready to go. I blame them for their predictably awful customer service.
Seat pocket? How about ON YOUR PERSON?
I use a fanny pack and in it are my prescription meds, passport, money, glasses, phone, charger, keys, whatever paperwork I need for whatever Country I’m in/going to at the time, etc. All what I need or is irreplaceable fits in a rather small size fanny pack and it stays buckled around my waist even when sleeping. That way, its ALWAYS WITH ME! So if I’m awaken by a fire, all I have to do is RUN!!!
The mom didn’t just do what was right, she did the only thing she could. How could anyone expect her to have taken diapers, baby formula & bottle, change of clothes, baby car seat and personal belongings with her down the airplane slide (that’s one rollaboard, one baby bag and one car seat), while *at the same time* holding on to her toddler safely, as a baby cannot be thrown down the slide on their own??
Dismal preparedness by Frontier, ridiculous & nonsensical reaction from the agent.
Without reading the existing comments, cue the assholes who will inevitably contort themselves into pretzels to explain why THEY need to grab their laptop and their pacifiers before the evacuation. 10 year FAA bans for anyone who disobeys crew instructions.
I’ve asked before…what are the procedures to get your belongings returned when you do the right thing? Hours, days, etc.? FAA regulations must address this in some form.
Matthew, will you reach out to Frontier for comnent?
I already have.
Let this sink in every airline: what do you think will happen during the next evacuation when people hear this? There is no excuse that the checked and carryons can’t be returned to pax quickly (or have the checked go to replacement plane). And, if Frontier was understaffed to do so, the other airlines should pitch in. Since most evaluations occur with no damage to the cabin or holds, people need to know their life isn’t unnecessarily screwed up for days if they do the right thing and exit without bags.
For years my spouse and I have kept our most important items on our person or in the seat in front of us during takeoff. Incase of an emergency. Rest assured, if we had items in the overhead that were of importance such as medication we would grab that on the way out.
Even if it meant people behind you died?
I think i know how to evacuate a plane now. Essentials evac too! Meds, keep baby alive stuff…bs on 6 hours in diaper. 6 hours in diaper means a bloody diaper rash on a newborn and a very bad rash on any other child. You talking about a medical experience right there if it was truly an infant.
Taking it all with me! Screw whatever flight attendant Temika Lomax is screaming about!