Jetstar is currently being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau after the budget airline forgot to unload a container of luggage after landing in the Gold Coast before flying to Sydney.
Oops!
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is claiming that the extra luggage was noted by ground crew in Sydney upon the aircraft’s arrival on 29 October, and that the container was not included on the cargo manifest.
However, Jetstar is insisting that it was aware of the extra cargo shortly after leaving Gold Coast after baggage handlers alerted the pilot of the A320.
“An additional baggage container was left on the aircraft from the previous flight… The pilots on board were notified once the error was picked up and the flight continued to Sydney and landed as normal.”
Jetstar spokeswoman.
The Jetstar spokeswoman also acknowledged the error straight away and contacted the ATSB. It then put the luggage on the next flight back to Gold Coast where it was then collected by its rightful owners – talk about some well-travelled luggage!
Source: www.news.com.au
But in all seriousness, Jetstar is also currently in the midst of its own investigation to prevent such a similar situation happening again, although there was never any risk at all of the plane being overweight due to the excess baggage on this particular occasion.
Unclaimed bags are a sore spot for airport and aviation authorities, and aviation law requires that luggage be off-loaded if a passenger is unable to board the flight. Baggage is not allowed to fly unaccompanied, unless it is checked in as cargo.
Unattended bags in airports are also frowned upon, and have caused security incidents in the past, especially in recent years with the threat of terrorism forever looming in the back of our collective minds.
Source: News.com.au
