Alaska Airlines flight 448, a 737-900 scheduled for service from Seattle to Los Angles, was diverted back into Seattle today after a 14 minute flight because pilots reportedly heard banging noises.

Ramp Agent In Cargo Bin Causes Flight Diversion on Alaska Airlines

An Alaska Airlines 737-900 in SEA in October 2010

According to the Alaska Airlines blog:

Immediately after takeoff, the pilot of Alaska Airlines flight 448, bound for Los Angeles, reported hearing banging from beneath the aircraft. The captain immediately returned to Seattle, declaring an emergency for priority landing. The aircraft was in the air for 14 minutes. After landing, a ramp agent was found inside the front cargo hold, which is pressurized and temperature controlled. The ramp agent appeared OK, and was transported to the hospital as a precaution. We are actively investigating the matter.

Flightaware.com showed this path of the flight that was blocked out of the gate for 22 minutes, including taxi time:Bottom Line:

I’m sure the Alaska Airlines Ramp Agent had quite the ride of his life during this accident. I would imagine there will be a number of new safety procedures in place at Alaska Airlines to prevent something like this ever happening again.