Staff Fell Asleep Trapped In Cargo

An airport worker fell asleep and became trapped in the cargo hold the Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after.

Flight 448, from Seattle to Los Angeles, had been in the air for 14 minutes when the pilot heard banging from below.

At the sound he immediately turned the plane, which was carrying 170 passengers and six crew, back to Seattle and began emergency landing proceedings.

After the Alaska Airlines plane had landed, the man emerged form the pressurised and temperature-controlled cargo hold at the front of the aircraft.

A statement from the airline said: "Upon exiting, he told authorities he had fallen asleep."

The man, who works for contractor Menzies Aviation, was taken to hospital for a check-up and found to be unhurt.

He had started his shift at 5am and, as part of a four-person team loading luggage on to the plane, was due to finish at 2.30pm. The flight left at 2.39pm.

The man's manager had noticed he was missing, airline authorities said, and had phoned and texted his colleague's mobile but had not received an answer.

Co-workers said he had finished his shift and left for the day.

One passenger described how the flight was surrounded by emergency vehicles when it returned to the airport.

Jesse Sycuro told KING-TV: "Nobody on the plane heard anything like that, nobody knew why we were turning around.

"They just said we were fine and we weren't in any danger.

"They just said there was someone in the cargo hold and he's been escorted off and taken away."

Other passengers reported they had heard the banging and the marshal on the flight stamped his foot on the floor, shouting: "We're getting ready to land. Hold on!"

The flight and passengers took off again and arrived at its destination more than an hour late.