An airline passenger captured the frightening midair moment a piece of luggage slipped out of the plane’s hold and struck a propeller during a flight in Chile.
The Aerocord Airlines plane was flying over the Pacific Ocean from Chaitén to Puerto Montt in the southern region of Los Lagos last Thursday when the bag became dislodged.
Video of the incident showed the bag flying into the plane’s right propeller, causing its blades to momentarily stall.
A passenger on board an Aercord Airlines flight recorded the moment a bag hit the aircraft’s propeller, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing
The pilot was able to avert disaster and safely land the aircraft, which was carrying one crew member and 18 passengers, at Chaitén Airport.
One of the passengers told Chilean television station Canal 13 that they ‘felt a loud bang and then everything started to vibrate.’
Before the flight, the passengers spent four hours at the airport, where an attempt to take off was delayed because one of the aircraft’s doors was not closing properly.
Shortly after the incident, Aerocord Airlines said in a statement that a bird hit the aircraft’s fuselage, ‘which caused the cargo doors to come loose.’
‘The incident was reported to the corresponding aeronautical authorities and after activating the respective protocols, the company decided to return to Chaitén,’ the airline added.
Aerocord Airlines said in a statement that a bird hit the aircraft’s fuselage, ‘which caused the cargo doors to come loose’
However, the passenger who took video of the incident offered a different explanation.
‘When they took off, a suitcase fell from the aircraft hitting the propellers and they had to make an emergency landing,’ Luis Águila said.
‘The aircraft was full of passengers and the incident occurred because they left a trunk door poorly closed. Fortunately, the pilot knew how to contain the emergency and managed to land.’
The incident took place less than a week after an unhinged passenger attempted to open the door of a Copa Airlines airplane mid-flight.
Customers sprung into action and helped the crew subdue the man, who initially held a female flight attendant hostage with a plastic knife as the plane traveling from Brasilia, Brazil was set to land in Panama City, Panama on Monday.
The passenger was beaten and placed in plastic handcuffs and the pilot was able to safely land the aircraft at Tocumen International Airport, where authorities placed him under arrest.
