I would have great difficulty believing that on a Gatwick-Alicante flight as per Flapping_Madly's comment, someone would be carrying in a large backpack either military or avalanche rescue equipment. Seems far more likely to have been someone on holiday who managed to slip past the gate agent(s)
On a flight from Jerez on Ryanair 2 days ago, I saw a large number of people carrying outsize baggage, including someone "wearing" a large rucksack. The flight was a little late, and I can only assume that the gate agents either just didn't care or were under pressure to dispatch the flight as quickly as possible.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 11th Sep 2012 at 11:34.