Trapped Baggage Handler Is 'Permanently Banned'

The baggage handler who fell asleep and got trapped in an Alaska Airlines plane's cargo hold Monday, forcing the flight to return to the Seattle-Tacoma airport for an emergency landing, has been "permanently banned" from Alaska Airlines' planes, says a rep for the airline. The unnamed man works for a contractor, Menzies Aviation, that loads the airline's luggage. In addition to banging from below to let people know he was there, the man made what might be one of the stranger 911 calls of all time in an effort to get the plane to land, CNN reports.

"Hello, I'm trapped in this plane and I called my job, but I'm in this plane," he said on the call. "I'm inside a plane and I feel like it's up moving in the air. Flight 448, can you please tell somebody (to) stop it." Before the call cut off, he screamed, "I can't breathe," though Reuters notes he was not actually in danger since the cargo hold is pressurized and temperature-controlled. Why did the worker take his unfortunate nap? Still unclear, but he did pass a drug test after the incident. His shift had a 5am start, but a source tells CNN he had Saturday and Sunday off and had taken both a lunch and afternoon break prior to falling asleep. (More Alaska Airlines stories.)