Jay StrubbergAn Alaska Airlines plane headed from Seattle to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing Monday after a worker reportedly took a nap in the cargo hold and was stuck there when it took off.
Alaska Airlines released a statement saying the pilot ordered Flight 448 to return to Seattle shortly after take-off when he "heard banging beneath the aircraft" and suspected a person behind the noise. (Video via NWCN)
A ramp agent was reportedly locked inside a "pressurized, temperature-controlled portion of the cargo hold." He was taken to an area hospital after the plane landed and later released with a clean bill of health. (Video via KING)
"He told first responders who spoke with him that he boarded the cargo hold and was taking a nap prior to the aircraft taking off," Bobbie Egan of Alaska Airlines told KIRO.
In case you were wondering, Alaska Airlines says the man passed a drug test that afternoon.
The employee, who wasn't identified, also reportedly works for the contractor Menzies Aviation. KOMO reports the company has had some issues at Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport in the past. (Video via Original Concept Productions)
"It's the same company that caused two Alaska jets to crash into each other on the tarmac here at Sea-Tac back in 2010. Two Menzies workers were fired for that incident," KOMO Luke Duecy reports.
Alaska Airlines says it's launched an investigation into the incident.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
