Confessions of a Baggage Handler

[redeye]

Thanks "Joe Dirt"

http://information.travel.aol.com/article/...126154409990002

He linked me this story. There should be enough stories to publish
good "coffee table" reading.

In JAX I loaded an inflatable raft w/ small outboard to EYW. Non-rev captain
asked to take special care

Had a vibrating bag the other day. My female bin partner dug through it like
a backyard dog searchin' for a long lost bone. Never knew what a "pocket rocket"
was till then.

I can think of lots of cargo horror stories. A while back a stupid/cheap shipper
sent an HR neither bagged nor boxed, just a tray and a cover. Maneuvering
it on the aircraft, the cover slips and out slides granny. Newbies for some reason
don't want to stick around after that. There was once a newbie who was in the
bin with an HR. Funny thing rigamortis. The HR overcame its binding and sat up
in the cardboard container. Newbie bailed from the bin, not to be seen again.

Would love to hear other stories,

Anyone?

 

[flyJOE]

Back in '92-'93, I worked the ramp for DL (before they farmed it out) at IAD. We did ground handling for Aeroflot's SVO-SNN-IAD, IAD-SNN-SVO flight using an IL-62. Quite a unique experience working Aeroflot and those old Russian bombers.

-During the stopover in SNN, we used to get a lot of fish loaded for the flight to IAD. One day we opened the back bin and the smell was something else. They loaded the fish in cardboard boxes with plastic liners, and packed in ice. The ice had melted and the cardboard boxes turned to much and their was fish all over the bin. The IL-62 wasn't container loaded, so when the boxes were coming down the beltloader, fish and fish juice was everywhere on the equipment and ramp.

-Another flight from SVO, they loaded grapes into some packaging, similar to the old cardboard mail trays. Needless to say they didn't fully seal the trays and the grapes were everywhere. Of course, being the mature responsible ramp agents we were, we politely repackaged the boxes upon arrival. Of course not, we had quite the grape battle in the back of the bin and around the baggage cart.

-We ran out of room in the 3 bins of the IL-62 & still had bags & a German shepherd to load. The bins were maxed, but the station mgr. Alexei had us load the rest of the bags & the kennel in the back of the pax cabin. I remember walking up the airstairs into the 1L door helping to carry that kennel to the back of the A/C and belting it into the seats.

-On our DL flights into IAD, we use to get crates and crates full of monkeys. I think there was some infection disease center nearby in Reston, VA and the monkeys were enroute there. When we would get near them, the monkeys went as far away from the openings to avoid us & you never put your face near the cages. After the monkeys were in the cargo carts, we went to the other bin of the a/c and you looked back and all of the monkeys (15-20) had come to the front of the cages and were watching every move we made. Very spooky...

My days working PHL on the ramp were memorable in different ways, but that was another story.

Who remember's Bob M's breakfast 'restaurant' in the ABR room under B con?

 

[700UW]

Those Sunday morning breakfasts rocked!

 

[USCREW]

-On our DL flights into IAD, we use to get crates and crates full of monkeys. I think there was some infection disease center nearby in Reston, VA and the monkeys were enroute there. When we would get near them, the monkeys went as far away from the openings to avoid us & you never put your face near the cages. After the monkeys were in the cargo carts, we went to the other bin of the a/c and you looked back and all of the monkeys (15-20) had come to the front of the cages and were watching every move we made. Very spooky...

This incident occured, I believe, in 1989 at Hazelton Labs and was investigated by both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Army Medical Research of Infectious Diseases (USAMRID). Neither organization could discover, exactly, WHY Ebola Reston didn't kill humans, like its sister-viruses, but the newly-discovered strain was decidedly and easily one of the most lethal strains known to man. Its incubation period lasted all of less than twelve hours and its run-time lasted anywhere from 24-72 hours until the patient will crash and bleed-out. It is regarded, by the medical community and infectious disease eggheads, as Mankind's most dangerous viral enemy should it ever cross over to our species entirely and prove lethal to humans. It was a big deal and very hush-hush until all the monkeys were destroyed. Here is a picture of one of the monkeys in a restraint tube while undergoing testing:

View attachment 6858

 

[Ramp Rat]

I remember this dumb$*# Lead we had in PHL. Tony M. was his name. We found an old box and packing. Wrote on there that they were poisionous snakes and then broke the box up and put it right inside the cargo bin door. Tony told W&B they were poisonous snakes. When the flight got to where it was goin, they opened the door and thought the snakes escaped. No one would work the flight.

 

[Edward]

Since this is not USAIRWAYS specific but interesting I'm moving it to Aviation News. Please follow it there.

 

[JoeDirt]

I actually had one of those monkeys get loose in the bin. It was a box with three gray monkeys. Each was separated in it's own compartment. The A/C was completely loaded with pax and cargo. They were the last thing to be loaded. Just before coming out the guy loading the bin looked into the box and as he looked up again one of the monkeys was sitting on top of the box looking at him. Scared him half to death and he made a quick exit. As he did so he was swinging on the cord to close the door. Looking a lot like a monkey himself. So now we know we have a slight problem. Loose monkey, closed door and a full plane. I did get the privilege of telling the flight crew we were not going anywhere for quite a while. Their reaction was priceless. The captain turned and looked at me and said "You want me to tell these people we are taking a monkey delay?".

Animal control came and taped a net over the door opening and then open the door. This monkey was darting from one side to the other using every bit of the room that was not taken up by cargo. One hour and a half and three darts later the monkey was placed back in the cage.

 

[necigrad]

We had an MD80 come into our station once. Some genius decided the 50 pound limit on dry ice could wasn't adaquate. S/He loaded 500 pounds. Ramper opened the bin, inhaled as the door went in, and hit the ground.