Drunk baggage handler falls asleep in hold, flies to Chicago

Union leaders say pilots will push American Airlines for more pay and schedule changes that they believe will reduce chronic flight delays at the world’s biggest airline. | AP file photo

Police say a baggage handler told them he was drunk when he fell asleep in a cargo hold and flew from Kansas City to Chicago.

American Airlines says the Piedmont Airlines employee was working American Flight 363 on Saturday when the Boeing 737 left Kansas City International Airport with the handler in a heated and pressurized cargo hold.

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says he was found when the flight landed about an hour later at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. The spokesman says the handler told police he was intoxicated and had fallen asleep.

No charges were filed, and he was sent back to Kansas City.

American says it is grateful the handler wasn’t injured and it’s reviewing what happened.

The handler’s name wasn’t released.

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