Unresolved Mystery: Pilots Hear Chilling Cry Coming From Cargo Hold At 30,000 Feet

by Gary Leff

A Pegasus Airlines flight, designated as PC690, experienced an unusual incident late Saturday night. The flight, operated by the Turkish low-cost carrier, departed from Istanbul around 10 pm, heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This routine three-and-a-half-hour journey took an unexpected turn shortly after takeoff.

Cries for help, shouting “Help Me,” were reportedly heard emanating from the front cargo hold of the aircraft, an Airbus A321neo, registered as TC-RDG. The pilots, concerned that a baggage handler might be trapped in the potentially dangerous environment of the unheated and low-oxygen cargo hold, made an immediate decision to divert the flight. The aircraft was redirected to Antalya International Airport on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast.

Upon landing in Antalya, groundworkers conducted a thorough inspection of the aircraft’s cargo hold. Despite the alarming reports, they found no evidence of anyone trapped inside. After ensuring the safety and integrity of the aircraft, the flight was cleared to resume its journey to the Saudi capital. The origin of the cries for help remains unknown, adding a layer of mystery to the incident.

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.

In the case of the Pegasus flight PC690, after the necessary checks and removal of all luggage for inspection, the flight continued safely. No further details about the source of the cries for help or the nature of the incident have been released as of now.

(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Widely reported in Turkish media that it was a Bluetooth speaker of some kind in someone’s luggage.

  2. I suppose someone could carefully rig up some electronics so that they would pass inspection and automatically play a message when a certain low pressure level is reached, turning off when the airplane gets lower while landing and the pressure level goes up.

  4. Bluetooth speaker purposely left on in luggage and controlled by a phone in the cabin? Simple enough that anyone could do it especially if you could move about the cabin to connect.

    Sick individual or dry run for a nefarious act?

  5. I don’t know how much room there is in an Airbus wheel well but I quite sure others have tried to stowaway there. If the stowaway fell out upon gear extension, this is another unsolved mystery.

  6. Cries for help on a flight to Riyadh? Who knew, thought the cries stopped in the Saudi Embassy.

  7. I’m guessing someone was in the landing gear compartment. Maybe if someone turns up missing, we will know for sure.

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