Thursday night’s American Airlines flight 954 from Buenos Aires to New York JFK pushed back 3 hours early – but turned around and returned to the airport after passengers on board the Boeing 777-300ER (registration N717AN) heard noises that seemed to be coming from the cargo hold.

Passengers and crew began to hear sounds while the aircraft was around 400 miles northwest of Buenos Aires.

Security protocols were activated but there was never risk to the aircraft. Instead, passengers were told that a person was locked in the cargo area and was using a blunt object to bang on the aircraft, trying to get attention for a rescue.

Un vuelo de American Airlines con destino a Nueva York hizo un aterrizaje de emergencia en Buenos Aires, una persona fue encerrada en la bodega de carga. pic.twitter.com/NYtgbXxwqq

— Capi Super Girl (@capisupergirl_) November 1, 2024

Amerikan Airlines'ın #AA954 Buenos Aires – New York uçuşunu gerçekleştiren N717AN tescilli bir Boeing 777-323(ER) tipi uçağı Buenos Aires'e acil iniş yaptı.

Uçaktaki yolcular ve mürettebat, kalkıştan kısa bir süre sonra kargo bölümünden gelen sesleri bildirmesi üzerine güvenlik… pic.twitter.com/icJO4EaKs9

— HavaSosyalMedya (@HavaSosyalMedya) November 1, 2024

Coach passengers are often referred to pejoratively as ‘self-loading cargo’ and former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce wanted to put sleeper berths in the cargo hold to actually put passengers down there.

In 2018, a drunk American Airlines baggage handler actually did fall asleep in the cargo hold of a Boeing 737 and flew from Kansas City to Chicago. The year before, a United Express baggage handler flew cargo from Charlotte to Washington Dulles.

A man did once ship himself in a box from Australia to Los Angeles. That wouldn’t be pleasant, if only for the condition of some of those areas of the aircraft. After all, British Airways once had to instruct staff to stop urinating in cargo holds.