Baggage mishandling possible cause of emergency landing

Posted by Anita Froneman on 19 February 2020

On 20 August 2019, FlySafair Boeing 737-400 made a mayday distress call en route from Cape Town to Durban and had to execute an emergency landing back in Cape Town. No passengers were injured and the landing was successful.

Now, after investigations by Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) reports found that the plane suffered rapid decompression. This was because the pressure seal around a cargo door failed to close properly according to TimesLive. 

This was possibly due to rough handling of the door by baggage handlers, the report states. ‘The failure of the pressure seal was most likely attributed to manhandling of the door during cargo/baggage handling,’ said the SACAA on the authority’s website.

The report has fuelled an ongoing debate about the way passengers’ luggage is treated by handlers at airports. Numerous videos shared on social media have shown luggage handlers across the world treating bags with complete disregard for them or their contents, often causing damage to passengers’ bags.

Image: Video  






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