By Susan Carey
A contract worker who fell asleep Monday in the cargo hold of a
departing Alaska Airlines jetliner "knowingly violated" the
policies and procedures of his employer, Menzies Aviation, the
company said Tuesday.
Menzies, a global provider of airline handling, said the worker
"hid in the hold of an aircraft to take a nap," forcing the plane
the turn around and make an emergency landing. The matter remains
under internal investigation, the company added.
The worker, whose name wasn't released and whose current job
status is unknown, had been employed by the firm for 18 months as a
baggage handler at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according
to Menzies, a unit of John Menzies PLC of the U.K. "Fortunately,
the area of the aircraft in which the employee concealed himself
was both pressurized and climate-controlled and therefor he was not
harmed," the company said.
According to Alaska Airlines, the employee was just ending his 9
and 1/2 -hour shift on Monday when he fell asleep on the Boeing Co.
737, which took off a few minutes later for Los Angeles with 170
passengers and six crew members on board. The ramp worker's team
mates had noticed he was missing but thought he had finished his
shift and gone home.
The man awoke and 14 minutes into the flight began banging on
the cabin floor from beneath it. The captain declared an emergency
and immediately returned to Seattle. The airline, a unit of Alaska
Air Group Inc., said the worker appeared to be OK and was taken to
a hospital as a precaution. He passed a drug test and was later
discharged. The airline, which also is investigating the matter, on
Tuesday referred all further inquiries to Menzies.
The handling company said it has 835 workers serving Alaska
Airlines at Seattle, the carrier's hub, and works for it at 19
other airports in the U.S. and Mexico. Whether they work for
airlines or for vendors, federal rules require ramp workers to have
security badges and undergo criminal background checks and drug
screening before being hired. They also are subjected to random
drug tests through their employment.
Alaska Airlines outsourced its Seattle ramp workers to Menzies
in 2005 as a cost-cutting move. The transition was rocky at first,
with misplaced luggage, late flights and an incident in which a
damaged plane had to make an emergency landing. But the companies
have said those problems were fixed.
Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com
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