Baggage Handler Mistakenly Locked In Cargo Hold

A baggage handler at Charlotte-Douglas Airport was apparently mistakenly locked inside the cargo hold of a United Express flight on Sunday, making the 82-minute flight to Washington’s Dulles Airport unscathed.

In fact, when the flight landed late Sunday afternoon, the unidentified man refused medical treatment.

According to multiple media reports, at some point during United Express Flight 6060’s short journey it was discovered that the man was trapped in the cargo hold.

“It's going to be an apparent baggage handler that got locked in the baggage compartment," according to a dispatch call to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Fire and Rescue. "It's going to be in the rear cargo area. Should have been pressurized. Unknown injuries at this time."

It is also unknown how the baggage handler became in advertently locked in the cargo hold. The man had a baggage handler’s uniform on from Charlotte Douglas and identification from the contractor that handles the airport, G2 Secure Staff, but said he left his airport ID in his locker in Charlotte.

“We're going to work it as a security incident until we can get some confirmation that he is who is even though he's in trade dress for a ramp worker in Charlotte,” someone said over emergency dispatch. “The flight crew doesn't remember seeing him or anything like that.”

United Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement Monday.

“Once at the gate, an employee of the airline's ground handling vendor was found unharmed in the aircraft's cargo hold,” the statement said. “We are looking into what happened.”