Ride For Free On Jet Blue (If You Can Get Yourself "Trapped" In The Cargo Hold)
A Jet Blue employee hitched a free flight from JFK Airport in NYC to Logan Airport in Boston this past weekend, after getting trapped in the cargo hold before takeoff. Police aren't charging him with a crime, but they told the Boston Globe that, "Even after talking to him, we were a little uncertain as to how it happened." He apparently called the company from the cargo hold once the plane was in the air—which is exactly what we would do to deflect suspicion in a scheme like this. Tokyo, here we come via new part-time job as a baggage handler!
We thought there was a risk of cargo holds being unheated or unpressurized, but luckily for the anonymous stowaway Jet Blue pressurizes theirs. It's certainly a better place to hide than the wheel well.
"The flight was free, but the ride was rough" [The Boston Globe] (Thanks to R!)
(Photo: Spring Dew)
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Comments:
Sometime when you gotta nap, you gotta nap.
Bastard was damned lucky he didn't get hypoxia and vacuum damage. They'd find him when they open the hold with his eyes bulged out and deflated and in general looking rather... squishy.
What would you bet he took Amtrak back? :)
Hmmm...plane cake.
Hell, at least he had plenty of leg room!
Is that what you think happens when airlines load pets into the cargo pit?
Now THAT'S some dedication to your job!
This is my favorite illustration to date.
I'm curious, does he count as his own checked bag?
on some planes, only part of the cargo hold is pressurized and heated. Since JetBlue uses fancy new AirBus'es (and on the BOS-NY route, Embraers),,, the entire compartment is pressurized
So if Jet Blue can misplace one of their employees, what chance does our luggage have?
He's lucky the cargo hold was pressurized and heated. At 30,000 feet things get a bit icy. I used to pull luggage out of cargo holds, and if a lot of moisture had gotten trapped in the hold before closing it, the luggage would be covered in ice.
@gStein: unintentional typo "chrisw" but it works.
and i meant "could have found it on cake wrecks"
i'm sick and should not be doing anything that requires my brain
@Thaddeus:
Interesting question.
If this were American Airlines, would they charge him the baggage fee?
Cargo holds are always pressurized and heated. That's why (a) they let you put your cat/dog/other animal there, and (b) your bag isn't frozen into a solid lump of ice which shatters when they drop it onto the cart.
@RandomHookup: I never, ever thought these words would form from my typing hands, but boy does that jet need a shave!
@ajlei: Wow someone read the story.
"Baldwin said the company flies only two types of aircraft, both of which have pressurized cargo holds."
@Jeremy Miles: cargo holds -into which they put pets- are always pressurized and heated. Jet blue happens to have that for all their planes, but many others do not.
@Jeremy Miles: WOW. You actually believe your luggage experiences liquid nitrogen like temperatures in planes? Wouldn't the metal of the plane shatter when it touches down if that were true?
I guess things have changed. Years ago, airline employees got to fly for free. A guy I know worked as a baggage handler at Logan. He and his pals used to fly to Bermuda.
For lunch.
@Jeremy Miles: a) There are recurring instances of pets reaching their final destinations as corpses. Because the airlines are supposed to put pets in warm and pressurized holds doesn't mean they always do.
b) My luggage isn't filled with water, so it would never freeze into a shatterable lump anyway.
I wonder if he got paid for his air travel since he was still working when the plane took off. Maybe he wanted to make sure that the luggage got unloaded in the same professional and careful manner that he loaded it. Now that is dedication to your job and to the people flying.
That cake is straight from the Baker's Cut-Up Cake Party Book circa 1978. My mom baked cakes out of that book all the time.
[www.amazon.com]
Wait, isn't anyone going to point out that he made a phone call while in flight? I doubt they have a corded phone in the cargo hold, so this implies that he used his cellphone. Isn't this against federal law?
@opticnrv: Maybe for passengers like the obnoxious sales guy in row 23 but probably not an emergency issue. I think it is to keep the plane safe from interference and the cell towers below from freaking out.
@opticnrv: Well, while it is illegal in NJ to drive while talking on a handheld phone, in cases of Emergency, and/or talking to emergency personal, you are allowed to.
@Chumas: the cargo hold of an airliner is pressurized just like the passenger cabin. the concern would be the cold... while it is heated, it isn't as warm as the passenger cabin, so let's hope this poor guy was able to bundle up!
Yeah, I saw this story on my local news earlier today, and it still escapes me why napping in the cargo hold of an airplane would ever occur to someone.