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It is hard being Alaska Airlines right now. Just last week the local carrier had to cancel numerous flights to comply with FAA inspections of MD-80 airplanes. And not one, but two airlines invaded their bread and butter routes by offering new amenity-filled flights between Seattle and California.
Alaska's struggles continued today, when a plane had to be evacuated due to smoke in the cockpit. This also resulted in the day's unintentionally funny headline (courtesy of the Seattle P-I): "Alaska Airlines 737 evacuated on landing." While "evacuated" wouldn't be the verb you'd usually use, getting off the plane after it lands is pretty much standard operating procedure.
Flight 529 from Los Angeles had reported a possible landing gear problem about twenty minutes from its landing at Sea-Tac. The plane had no difficulties landing. However, shortly after touch-down, a "light haze" of smoke appeared in the cockpit. The pilot ordered the crew to evacuate the flight's 103 passengers, deploying the emergency chutes on the tarmac. The flight's pilot was treated for minor smoke inhalation and two passengers complained of twisted ankles after the evacuation.
"Alaska Flyers" from our Seattlest Flickr Pool contributor hobbes8calvin
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I don't get it. Why is that headline unintentionally funny, and what's the verb one would normally use?
One's bowels are evacuated.
One also evacuates people from dangerous places.
That meaning of the word really only took hold post-WWII. Persnickety copy editors still avoid using "evacuate" in that way. See: The Wire.
Yes, a headline where *people* are evacuated could be construed in an unfortunate manner, but evacuating an Alaska Airlines 737 is unlikely to make anyone think that the plane was emptying its bowels. I say STET.
I trust The Wire for depictions of Baltimore and examinations of drug policy. Usage issues? Not so much.
I, with all my charming naivete, see evacuate as just a more urgent version of "to leave." So a headline pronouncing a 737 full of passengers were asked to leave after landing, seems anything but newsworthy.
courtesy of dictionary.com:
"EVACUATE - 1. to leave empty; vacate."
Not naive, just have a dumb sense of humor!