I bet your worst flight experience can’t top this one. Passengers on board an American Airlines flight were re-routed due to what many reported to be banging coming from the hold.
And what’s worse? They said it sounded like there was someone trapped down there.
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The flight began in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
American Airlines flight 954 took off at 9:15 p.m. from Ezeiza International Airport, bound for New York. For all intents and purposes, it looked to be a pretty standard — if long — flight.
However, things changed when they hit 30,000 feet.
Because that’s the height you want things to go wrong at, right? While flying over the province of Córdoba, passengers and flight crew alike began noticing an odd banging coming from the hold.
The plane was diverted
Passengers were initially told that the diversion was due to a “problem,” according to a journalist who was on board. However, reports indicate it sounded like someone was trapped in the hold.
The pilots eventually revealed the cause of the diversion
Surprisingly, the pilots chose to actually acknowledge what everyone knew and wound up informing the passengers that they were diverting to assess if someone was indeed in the cargo hold.
They really didn’t have a choice
Despite what you see in movies, the cargo hold is very rarely accessible from the main cabin in commercial passenger jets. The pilots were forced to divert to address the issue.
The plane headed back to Buenos Aires
When the plane arrived back at its departure airport, passengers were shocked to see armed police waiting for them on the tarmac.
The experience was documented on social media
An X (formerly Twitter, as I will forever call it) user posted a reply to an Argentinian Flight Radar account that noted the odd diversion. The initial post stated that there were reports of “security issues.”
Here’s the footage
In the video, posted by user @nanudandrea, you can clearly see armed police entering the cargo hold while the passengers remain on board.
Later reports confirmed the deployment
Argentina’s largest newspaper, Clarín, reported that the Special Tactical Assault Group (GEAT), the Explosives and Special Weapons Control Group (GEDEX), and the Canine Technology Binomial all responded.
Officials from the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), PFA Firefighters and Health were also present.
Nothing was found
Despite all the drama, the groups involved stated there was “nothing found” after their sweep.
Sounds to me like someone forgot to secure something down below…but I guess we’ll never truly know what happened!
