Alaska Airlines worker takes nap in cargo hold, wakes up mid-flight

SEATTLE: An airport worker who fell asleep and found himself trapped in a plane's cargo hold forced a Los Angeles-bound Alaska Airlines flight to return to Seattle. Flight 448 had just taken off when the pilot and some first-class passengers heard banging from down below, the airline said.

The captain immediately returned to Seattle-Tacoma International and declared an emergency for priority landing. After the plane landed a ramp agent came out from the front cargo hold, which Alaska said is pressurized and temperature-controlled. "Upon exiting, he told authorities he had fallen asleep," the airline said.

The man, an employee of Alaska contractor Menzies Aviation, walked off the plane. He was initially checked by medics at the airport and found to be unhurt, airport spokesman Perry Cooper said.

The man was also checked at a hospital and released, the airline said on Monday. After his release from the hospital, he passed a drug test, airline spokesman Bryan Zidar said.

The plane was airborne for 14 minutes. Before the plane departed, the leader of the man's team noticed he was missing, called into the cargo hold for him and called and texted the man's cellphone but got no answer, the airline said. Co-workers decided he had finished his shift and gone home.

http://ift.tt/1ctmMe7 Cooper,Alaska Airlines

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