TAAG B-777 divert to Lisbon
 

I just noticed a cllip on TV about D2-TEI (B-777) diverting to Lisbon. I was too late to pick up the gist, but notice on Flight Radar it is airborne again for Luanda. Any update?

From another forum I believe there was a baggage loader still in the hold.

Errmm, isn't it going the wrong way for that? :E

Thanks, I did notice a reference to a hospital.

For anyone who reads Portuguese, here is the article:

TAAG vai apurar caso de funcionário fechado no porão de um avião

To paraphrase the article, his colleagues noticed he was missing after the aircraft took off and the captain was informed. The aircraft diverted to Lisbon and the ramp worker was found in the belly hold and taken to hospital. No mention of his condition.

I wonder if the 777 was overweight when it landed in Lisbon?

According to portuguese news sources, the worker was found unconscious and suffering of hypothermia. He remains in the hospital under observation.

Source

Would love to know how this can happen. When you turn around numbers of commercial aircraft daily, surely there are some kind of procedure to prevent this?

Is there not someway to get the flight crews attention by messing with a cargo fire detector somehow ?

According to avherald, he slipped while loading some animals and hit his head rendering him unconscious. I suspect he was out during the whole flight.

Champ

Loading some animals ... then hypothermia ... ?

Having forty winks on the job and his mates forgot about him? Surely not!

Not that I know of on the Triple.

The MD11 had it.

Not sure if I'm missing a smiley but if not - hypothermia v unlikely, given the holds are heated to well above zero .. Around 7-10 ish Celsius normally and usually up around room temp if livestock is carried.

Like huck I know of no way of anyone being stuck in the holds on a 777 can contact the flight crew.

@wiggy I was referring to two earlier posts in this thread, one of them mentioning hypothermia. No smiley, but intrigued (exactly: if live animals then supposedly a heated cargo section).

Ah got you, thanks for clarification. Hypothermia report sounds a bit odd, then again.......

Though there have been cases where some determined percussion has achieved the desired effect (albeit on a 737):

Asleep ramp agent in cargo hold leads to Alaska Airlines emergency landing - CNN.com

FIRE CARGO FWD would get the message across, I think. No need to start any fires.

... and then the crew fire a load of fire suppressing agent into the hold and suffocate the poor fella? :=

"slipped while loading some animals and hit his head rendering him unconscious"

I suppose it's possible. After all the captain of the Costa Concordia slipped and fell into a lifeboat.