Alaska Airlines Ramp Agent Found in Cargo Hold After Banging Alerts Pilot

A Sea-Tac airport worker fell asleep in the hold of an Alaska Airlines flight today and didn't wake up until it took off, but the pilot, hearing banging, turned the plane around, the airline said tonight.

The pilot of Alaska Airlines flight 448, bound for Los Angeles, heard banging after takeoff from beneath the plane, the company said in a statement.

"The captain immediately returned to Seattle, declaring an emergency for priority landing. The aircraft was in the air for 14 minutes," the airline said. "After landing, the ramp agent was found inside the front cargo hold, which is pressurized and temperature controlled. The ramp agent appeared OK, and was transported to the hospital as a precaution. We are actively investigating the matter."

Flight 448 from Seattle to LAX today. From the roar of the engines while taking off we accidentally woke the baggage...

Link

From the news report on CNN, Passengers said they heard banging on the floor and a voice. An air marshal was also on board who shouted to the person they would be landing.

Stacking Z's instead of baggage...

a reply to: roadgravel

They have a period when loading where one person stays in the hold waiting for any last minute bags. He was at the end of his shift, which started at 5am.

I thought I heard on the news the ramp crew did a brief check before closing and then did realize later someone was missing.

I can only imagine from how easy it is for me to fall asleep on a plane, that if I was there at 5am and working on it, all those nice, cushy bags would make a GREAT bed! But hell....I have fallen asleep on a cold boulder before so there are not many places I can't sleep.

a reply to: roadgravel

Oh the poor bastard. That guy is going to get canned like a shoal of sardines!

Although this is pretty funny in some respects, you can easily see how it might have worked out much worse!

His co-workers believed he finished his shift and went home.

How could they miss him "coming out" of the plane and "going home"?

Are open cargo holds that well guarded during loading that someone could go out (or in) without being noticed?

I see security responded en masse after the plane returned to the airport…

ETA: Of course it was an accident, I'm not suggesting accidents don't happen.

a reply to: roadgravel

They did a check of the ramp crew and noticed he was missing. They texted and yelled into the hold with no answer so they assumed he went off shift, since his shift ended about the time this flight left.

a reply to: intrptr

Ramps don't have guards watching the planes on them unless the airline contracts for that. During the lull while they wait for last minute bags there's no one around the plane except one or two loaders waiting in case anything comes out.

This is does not surprise me at all.

I worked for 6 years on an airport for a facility that handled loading and unloading US mail on Fed Ex flights and for the most part it was a huge waiting game. Everything runs on a tight schedule and if you were finished with a load of mail and waiting for the next load to arrive, it was fair game to sleep, watch movies, ect...

I have napped many of times in a ULD, on a tug, on the tarmac, in a plane, all while waiting on more mail to arrive, flights to arrive, Fed Ex to get their crap done.

The hours were always weird and for the most part every one that does this type of ramp work it was a second job for them. You tend to be exhausted doing ramp work.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: intrptr

Ramps don't have guards watching the planes on them unless the airline contracts for that. During the lull while they wait for last minute bags there's no one around the plane except one or two loaders waiting in case anything comes out.

What if he had been a plant? They just dismiss a "mssing worker" that easy?

a reply to: intrptr

And what was he planting by falling asleep on the plane? The check system works, both background and employee. There are almost no incidents like this, and so far nothing has been planted.

I'd investigate this a bit further before I'd fire the employee. I've done maintenance work in some of these cargo bays. One thing that I've noticed is that the ventilation isn't very good in some of them. It is entirely possible that there was a reduced amount of oxygen in the bay. When you add that to fatigue, it could almost be impossible to stay awake. Once the aircraft was underway the cabin ventilation system would have refreshed the air which might have caused the guy to wake up.

The hours were always weird and for the most part every one that does this type of ramp work it was a second job for them. You tend to be exhausted doing ramp work.

That's quite sad. But then that is what many jobs in our country have become.

a reply to: roadgravel

Well that's just great! 😧

I fly back home on Saturday on Alaska Airlines. Hopefully it's uneventful

How easy is it to get that job? Looks like they just shined a spot light on a weakness that can be exploited. I hope there is a good background check to get jobs that give that type of access.

a reply to: Zaphod58

And what was he planting by falling asleep on the plane?

Not him, silly, anyone intending to cause harm intentionally. The whole security apparatus at airports is ostensibly designed to prevent someone or someone with something from stowing out in the cargo hold of US planes. Tilt! Downplay it anyway you like, the article title says "man found" and he wasn't…

the ground crew and air crew didn't realize they had a stowaway until he started thumping on the cabin in flight. Then they realized oh its okay, he's okay, not a terrorist "stowaway".

(got out of that one)

I don't get why he started banging?

If it had been me, I would have played it cool and waited until landing in LAX. I then would have put my finger to my lips when the ramp workers opened the cargo door in a "shhh" fashion.

Then, I would have snuck into the airport, and found a greyhound bus back to Seattle. Along the ride home I'd call my boss back and tell him I'd be out sick the next day.

I mean, they keep pets/animals down in the hold. It can't be that inhospitable. Geeze. Amateurs...

originally posted by: Jaxsmash
How easy is it to get that job? Looks like they just shined a spot light on a weakness that can be exploited. I hope there is a good background check to get jobs that give that type of access.

I know where I live, a LOT of the ramp workers are registered sex offenders. I was looking at a list of all the sex offenders in my neighborhood and noticed a large portion of them had the airport listed as their employer.

a reply to: intrptr

And he didn't cause harm, did he? Point out how many times someone working at an airport has caused harm to an aircraft since the security rules went into place.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I can't recall someone on a ground crew in the US causing harm to a plane BEFORE the security was changed. Stealing from luggage, yes. Smuggling drugs, yes, but , endangering an aircraft, no.