United Airlines is investigating after a baggage handler somehow got trapped in the cargo hold of a plane.
The unnamed airport worker’s presence was discovered sometime during the flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Washington Dulles International Airport and emergency crews met the plane’s arrival as a precaution.
Media reports said fellow baggage handlers alerted authorities at Charlotte after the man failed to show up again after the plane took off.
When the plane landed, he was assessed but required no medical assistance after the 90-minute flight.
It is still unclear if the baggage hold was pressurized.
The flight was operated by Mesa Airlines as a United Express flight 6060 using a 50-seat Embraer 170.
The worker is employed by airport contractor G2 Secure Staff which provides baggage handling services for United at many airports.
"United Express flight 6060 operated by Mesa Airlines from Charlotte Douglas to Washington-Dulles (IAD) landed safely at IAD yesterday. Once at the gate, an employee of the airline’s ground handling vendor was found unharmed in the aircraft’s cargo hold and we are looking into what happened," said Erin Benson, a spokesperson for United in a statement.
