Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that something like this has happened, and it probably won’t be the last…
Screams in cargo hold lead to Air Canada Rouge gate return
An alarming incident happened on December 13, 2025, involving Air Canada Rouge flight AC1502, which was scheduled to operate from Toronto (YYZ) to Moncton (YQM). The flight was operated by an Airbus A321 with the registration code C-FJQD.
The 752-mile flight was scheduled to depart at 2PM and arrive at 5:03PM (with a one-hour time change), but that’s not how things played out. The flight had already been delayed by around five hours (ouch!), and then finally got underway.
As the plane started taxiing, passengers reported hearing banging and screaming coming from the cargo hold, so they alerted the crew, and there were even reports of some people calling 911. As a result, the plane returned to the gate, where they discovered what was going on — one of the baggage handlers reportedly got stuck inside the cargo hold before it was closed.
A video posted online by one of the passengers has the partial audio of the announcement from one of the pilots, where he can be heard saying:
“I’ve never had that in my life, first time, hopefully first and last, but that’s the reason we had to go back to the gate, to get that person out of the airplane. The good news is that the person is fine and safe, but we just have to deal with a little bit of paperwork. Again, we do apologize for all of the delays today, and we’ll get you to Moncton as soon as we can.”
In the video, passengers can be heard laughing loudly at the discovery, which… I don’t think would be my reaction, but who knows.
The discovery was reportedly made around 7:30PM local time, and then an hour after that, passengers had to deplane, as a crew change was required. At 10PM passengers got back on the plane, only to be told at 11PM that there was a mechanical issue. Then at around 12AM a new plane was found, only for the flight to be canceled after 1AM. Ouch!
These incidents are scary and rare, but not unheard of
Fortunately the baggage handler was discovered before the plane took off, as this would’ve become significantly more dangerous and logistically challenging if the person flew in the cargo hold. While cargo holds are typically pressurized, temperatures in the hold can get really cold, so there could be serious health risks.
It goes without saying that incidents like this shouldn’t happen. There are supposed to be procedures in place to ensure that no one ends up in the cargo hold when the door closes, but obviously those procedures weren’t being followed here.
This isn’t the first that something like this has happened, though, and it certainly won’t be the last. In March 2025, a similar incident happened on Turkish Airlines. In that case, the baggage handler ended up flying in the cargo hold, and was only discovered after the plane took off. He ended up suffering long term medical complications.
When you consider how many tens of thousands of flights take off every day, this really is exceedingly rare, though, as I’d say we see a story like this a maximum of once per year (and often even less frequently than that).
Bottom line
An Air Canada Rouge flight had a serious incident, whereby a baggage handler became stuck in the cargo hold. As the plane started taxiing, passengers could hear banging and screaming, so alerted the crew, causing a return to the gate. That’s when the extra “passenger” was discovered.
Fortunately the baggage handler didn’t suffer any health issues thanks to the quick discovery, but it’s still a concerning incident. Unfortunately for passengers, the flight was ultimately canceled, after a roughly 11-hour delay.
What do you make of this cargo hold incident?
