If you’re nervous about flying, take off isn’t much fun. You’re trying to keep your mind elsewhere, doing your best not to examine the engine through the window and wonder if that rivet is as tight as it should be. Finally the plane begins to taxi, and you white-knuckle your armrests.
Then you hear something. Is… that screaming? And frantic banging? Am I just imagining things? No, no. That’s definitely someone screaming in terror. Uh, flight attendant!
Well, some passengers didn’t have to imagine that, as this screaming and banging is what caused an Air Canada flight to abort a take-off and return to the gate. An investigation was immediately launched, quickly discovering that (as per Air Canada) the cargo doors were “inadvertently closed while a member of the ground crew was inside”.
UNBELIEVABLE INCIDENT: AIR CANADA ROUGE A321 HALTS TAXI AFTER BAGGAGE HANDLER TRAPPED IN CARGO HOLD
— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) January 22, 2026
Passengers on Air Canada Rouge Flight AC1502 from Toronto to Moncton heard screaming and banging from beneath the cabin as the aircraft taxied for takeoff. The crew stopped the… pic.twitter.com/lJHTPrvk6i
Video from the incident has been posted to Instagram from one of the passengers, who said:
“We had already started taxiing when a baggage crew member was under the aircraft in the cargo and could be heard yelling for help and banging underneath us.”
“Took a second to fully believe that’s actually what was happening.”
Another passenger gave their account on Reddit:
“Yes. Could feel my feet vibrate, then a second later heard some muffled yelling. Took a second to fully believe that’s actually what was happening.”
In this incident the unfortunate baggage worker escaped unharmed. But what would have happened if he wasn’t discovered or couldn’t make himself known to passengers and crew?
Well, fortunately, all modern passenger aircraft have pressurized baggage compartments, meaning they wouldn’t suffocate. Remember that pets are generally placed in the cargo hold for transport, so if a large dog can survive a few hours in there, a baggage handler can too.
In addition they wouldn’t freeze to death. There’s generally a heated area in the forward hold for animals and sensitive cargo that stays in the 45–68°F (7–20°C) range during flight.
But we can only underline that being trapped in the cargo hold wouldn’t be much fun due to uncomfortable conditions, unpleasantly cold temperatures, being bounced around in turbulence,and having to deal with the unblocked noise of the engines for hours (though a baggage handler may have ear protection on them anyway).
It should also be said that baggage handlers have indeed been trapped in the hold during flights, emerging at their unintended destination cold, tired, and shaken-up by their ordeal. But, so far, at least none have died! So if you’re flying and you suddenly hearing someone yelling to be let out, you’re not imagining things! Tell the cabin crew!
