Plane passengers are risking lives during evacuation procedures, industry body warns

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In our roundup of travel news this week: the world’s “best city for food,” why an Italian beach has banned umbrellas, plus a rise in airline passengers disregarding crew instructions.

Don’t grab bags, don’t stop to film

People, we really shouldn’t have to be told this again.

A new safety campaign launched by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is reminding plane passengers what they need to do when instructed to evacuate the aircraft. They should follow crew instructions, leave all baggage behind and move quickly to the nearest usable exit.

There have been a growing number of cases, evidenced online, of travelers stopping to grab personal items and bags or recording the evacuation on their phones, the industry body says.

Retrieving items from the overhead bins costs valuable seconds, IATA warns, and puts everyone’s safety at risk. Carrying bags and suitcases when passengers are struggling to get out can cause people to fall or damage the slides needed for exit.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, and informed, attentive passengers help ensure a faster, safer evacuation for everyone on board,” said Bryan Bedford from the Federal Aviation Administration in an IATA news release about the campaign.

A stowaway, a fake pilot and two cockpit incidents

While aviation security breaches are rare, they can and do happen.

A former Air Canada pilot is facing criminal charges for flying tens of thousands of passengers for nearly 17 years with a fake pilot’s license, Canadian police announced Tuesday.

That follows an incident last month where a 25-year-old man slipped past TSA and gate agents at a Houston airport and boarded a United Airlines plane using a suspected fake boarding pass, Texas authorities say. He was apprehended hiding in the plane bathroom.

Also in May, there were two incidents of passengers attempting to force their way into the airplane cockpit, on separate flights to Chicago and Minneapolis.

No one has successfully stormed the cockpit of a commercial aircraft flying in the US since the September 11, 2001 attacks, but some experts say more could be done to prevent it.

Umbrella bans and other travel news

A growing number of US airports are reviving the 20th-century tradition of allowing visitors to pass through security and walk loved ones to their gate, even without a plane ticket.

Seattle-Tacoma International has the longest-running program, but as of this month, 21 domestic airports allow nonticketed guests to get a pass. Find out more here.

That’s an aviation policy focused on keeping family together for longer.

Over in Europe, however, the continent’s biggest airline is being investigated for charging parents to sit with their children. The UK’s competition watchdog aims to determine if the practice is “unfair” under consumer law.

Traveling with youngsters in Europe isn’t always penalized, of course. In fact, it puts you at a distinct advantage in Sardinia, where authorities managing one of the Italian island’s most popular beaches have banned umbrellas for people between the ages of 10 and 65.

Safety concerns in the event of an emergency have been cited as the reason for the ban, but critics say sun protection and skin cancer protection also need to be priorities.

A German Shepherd was rescued after drifting miles out to sea on an inflatable kayak in England.

A sightseeing boat crew came to the rescue after a German Shepherd was swept miles out to sea along the northeast coast of England.

The dog, named Bruce, was rescued from an inflatable kayak and his owner has confirmed he’s now home “safe and sound.” Good boy, Bruce!

The culinary capital of South America has been named the world’s best city for food.

See if any of your favorite places made the cut.

A Swarovski family trust is selling this private island in the Venice lagoon.

A global tournament. A flesh-eating parasite. An iconic church.

What do you remember from the week that was?

He declared a new country governed by AI.

He’s not sure it will end well.