I agree that the retrieval of any bulky hand luggage should be forbidden.
You have way more time than you might expect after a plane crash. "Finally, [Captain] Sullenberger walked the cabin twice to confirm it was empty" [1]. If anybody had grabbed their hand luggage (especially from below their seat) they would've still had time to evacuate.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549#Ditchin...
When a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash landed in Moscow, a fire broke out and fewer than half of the 78 occupants managed to escape the plane on time.
> Aeroflot claimed the evacuation took 55 seconds, though video evidence shows the slides still in use 70 seconds after their deployment. Passengers were seen carrying hand luggage out of the aircraft.
And you think that you're competent to determine whether there is sufficient time or not after the plane just crashed? If I were sitting in the row behind you, I'd much prefer you didn't.
Hell, even when there isn't plenty of time to kill grabbing your phone isn't going to kill anybody. [1]
You can phrase it as "important enough" all you want, but its really just why let an item to go waste unnecessarily.
Yeah, probably put your phone in your pocket if it's accessible. Keep your wallet in your pocket. If your wallet doesn't fit in your pocket, at least grab your id and payment cards, if they announce a rough landing while on approach and you have time to prepare a bit.
But if they had taken their backpack or suitcase, and had dropped it, they could have blocked other people; knocked other people out; broken someone's ankle making them harder to evacuate etc etc.
And this was a calm evacuation. Imagine a fire, low visibility due to the smoke, the sense of urgency, and you trip on some dimwit's suitcase, pushing the people in front of you down, some of them hitting heads, then panic sets in, the path towards that emergency exit is blocked, etc etc etc.
Leave your fucking luggage behind. If everything is fine, it will get to you afterwards. If the plane is on fire, you won't, but you'd also not kill people by not taking it.
You probably will lose grip on the backpack if you just carry it in your hands. And if you have straps behind your back, it's even worse because you can get tangled and delay others' evacuation.