The contract baggage handler, who got trapped inside the cargo of Alaska Airlines flight 448 recently, has been banned from all the future work with the airline.
The flight was enroute to Los Angeles from Seattle's Tacoma International Airport, with 170 people on board, when it has to land back at Seattle due to mysterious loud banging from the plane's belly. The person in question is an employee of Menzies Aviation, which provided ground crew to Alaska Airlines.
"The employee has been permanently banned from ever working again on an Alaska Airlines operation," announced Alaska Airlines spokeswoman, Bobbie Egan, CBC News reported. Egan further mentioned that the employees are not allowed to sleep on the job and his ground co-workers had called his cell but got no response before the plane took off.
The unidentified person, who emerged unhurt from the plane, confessed to authorities that he dozed off inside the front portion of the plane's cargo area before take off. On finding himself trapped in an airborne flight, the worker panicked and called 911 to plead with the operator for help, New York Daily News reported.
Meanwhile, on hearing loud bangings from below the cabin and flight deck, the pilot of the Los Angeles bound flight decided to make an unscheduled emergency landing at Tacoma International Airport, Seattle.
However, the Airlines official declared that the baggage handler was never in any kind of actual danger as the cargo compartment where he was trapped was pressurized and temperature-controlled and had enough oxygen for the flight duration.
The aviation employee, who is in his 20s and is working for the company for past 18 months, was later taken to a hospital where he passed a drug test. The worker is still employed by Menzies Aviation which is waiting for the result of the formal investigation. The preliminary reports suggest no security breach or a criminal violation.