Photo by david.abizaid.

I don’t know about you, but every time I drive a car somewhere and use the trunk, I always double check that I have the keys in my hand before I slam the door. That kind of cautious checking probably would have served one baggage handler well yesterday, as he closed the cargo hold door with another handler inside at National Airport.

Apparently, the trapped baggage handler had climbed into the 37-inch tall cargo hold to load some bags before the hatch was closed. The Federal Aviation Administration reports that the handler was eventually freed after a co-pilot of the plane, bound for Hartford, Connecticut, heard “yelling and pounding” from inside the cargo area and reported it to the ground crew. It also helped that the handler who was trapped was also the person who was supposed to operate the equipment which pushes the plane away from the gate. All the hubbub shockingly did not cause the flight to be delayed.

While it’s tempting to have a good laugh about the incident, it isn’t the first time there’s been serious safety issues concerning baggage handlers at National — in 2005, a 32-year-old handler died when the loading vehicle she was using failed to stop and pinned her under the fuselage.