What happens to passengers' luggage on a flight like US Airways 1549?

"Hi"...you can rest assured that those brave and heroic passengers will be treated very delicately by US Airways and have all luggage and personal items and cabin baggage returned to them after the Crash Investigation is done or sooner , albeit rather soggy and for the most part ruined such as lap tops !

Surprisingly enough the passengers do have "baggage tags" and inasmuch as there was no fire the baggage will be intact...useless but intact !

One has to consider that there will be some very personal items in the baggage such as "jewellery" and things of that nature that won't be destroyed or damaged and it won't be just clothes.

I will also go on record as saying that US Airways will also pay full compensation for damaged goods, clothes , personal items etc. etc. I was also relieved to hear that there was no "Live cargo" on board such as dogs or cats loaded in the baggage compartments. ! *S*

Kudos btw to the cockpit and cabin crew.....totally professional . ( Thumbs up and a hats off from me *S* )

Good question and glad for the input ! *S* (Michael C...)

Most likely they wont get their luggage back (its now probably soaked, ruined etc). So US Airways (and by what's written in their Terms of service) will more than likely at the least:

Offer a Refund of their airfare for that flight

Cash/Check up to their allotted amount for the missing and damaged luggage (this cost is actually listed in their lost luggage section their policies).

What they could do to be PR heroes is also offer:

Vouchers up to a certain amount; for an open ended ticket to fly anywhere that they service for each passenger.

I'm sure they will somehow be compensated.

However, Iceman - "presence of mind" to grab carry-on?! Are you kidding? The LAST thing you are supposed to do is grab your carry-on items!!

You are supposed to GET OFF THE PLANE FAST and allow others to do the same. I don't care how valuable your carry-on item is - it isn't worth more than your life or that of others.

I do know some people who wear passport belts with cash and ID, for exactly this reason, when they fly - no grabbing carry-on, but makes life easier after rescue.

In most crashes, there's mostly only pieces of things left. But the plane remained mostly intact this time. I expect most belongings will be returned to the owners, eventually.

I'll bet that most of these passengers are just happy to still have their life at the moment. Electronics will all be broken, clothes wet/frozen/possibly moldy, bags will be ruined. I personally wouldn't want that stuff back. I'm sure that the airlines will most likely give them some sort of compensation. If it was on land, it may be a different story.

Well for starters, unless someone was carrying someone really valuable, I highly doubt they care at all.

But odds are that the luggage is flooded and ruined so it wont matter anyway. Some people may have had the presence of mind to grab a carry-on as they were getting off the plane though.

I agree that the pasangers are more than likely will be getting compensated for lost and damaged belongings

yeah i was in a plane crash but it crashed in a feild so we got are luggage back

Would be interested in knowing more about this too

It's being sold on e-bay right now!