A powerful global airline group has launched a safety campaign urging passengers to “save a life, not a bag”amid growing alarm at the number of people insisting on taking their luggage in an air emergency.

World airline body the International Air Transport Association said stiffer measures – including fines or even securing overhead lockers during flights – might be needed unless the trend could be quelled.

It comes after a spate of recent cases where passengers have stopped to collect baggage or take photos during an evacuation.

“Taking bags during an evacuation is not a minor issue. Every second matters,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said.

“Even taking one bag can affect the safe evacuation of everyone onboard. Crew instructions are clear and simple: leave everything behind and move quickly. ‘Save a Life, Not a Bag’ is a message that passengers need to understand and act upon.”

Industry experts say passenger aircraft are designed to be fully evacuated in 90 seconds in an emergency – but people reaching for hand luggage can significantly increase that time, blocking exits and aisles, as well as damaging slides or causing injury.

IATA senior vice-president of operations and security Nick Careen said it was crucial to educate passengers that it was “most important to leave hand baggage behind. We need to drive the message home”.

The IATA represents 370 of the world’s airlines, including Qantas, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Gulf carriers.

In a recent survey of travellers in Britain, the US, Singapore and the UAE, it found that only 61 per cent were aware of the rules.

The IATA found that 33 per cent of passengers had seen reports of people taking their baggage during an evacuation. Of those, 22 per cent said they were likely to do the same.

“Four in 10 passengers don’t even realise it’s an expectation to leave their shit behind,” Careen said at the IATA annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro this week, according a report in The Guardian.

Asked if he favoured fines, Careen said: “Yes, if we could implement them. It could progress because there are regulators who favour it.”

He said airlines and manufacturers were not yet considering potential technical fixes such as automatically locking luggage bins.

“Let’s start with education – then we’ll have to be a little bit more draconian, whether it be penalties or a lock on the overhead bin,” he said.

The IATA campaign also encourages passengers to keep essentials such as their passport, money and medication on their person during take-off and landing. Of those polled, 60 per cent said they would be less likely to take baggage if they were already carrying such essential items.

The IATA noted that, as well as wasting time, bags could hinder or even injure other travellers, or damage planes’ emergency slides.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has backed up the airline organisation, reporting an increasing number of passengers were failing to follow the instructions of flight crews during emergencies.

“In those moments, compliance is critical. Passengers must act quickly, follow instructions without hesitation, and leave all belongings behind,” FAA administrator Bryan Bedford said.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, and informed, attentive passengers help ensure a faster, safer evacuation for everyone on board.”

At least one aviation safety expert, however, said the response in an emergency was understandable. Brett Molesworth, a professor of human factors and aviation safety at the University of NSW, told The Guardian unfamiliar emergencies led to a “fight or flight” stress response when only a minority of people acted rationally.

For about 75 per cent of people, he said, “their ability to process information is restricted. In those circumstances if they’ve got their bag in the overhead lockers they want to take it with them”.