BAGS ON BOARD Passengers missing

Posted on 10/15/2015

An Air France flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Johannesburg, South Africa was forced to declare an emergency and turn around 45 minutes into its journey, after the crew discovered that two passengers were missing.
Crew onboard the Boeing A380 triggered the security alert after realising that the passenger manifest and baggage list did not match and that four bags had been loaded but the owners were not on board. Flight AF990A which was scheduled to fly at 11.30pm Tuesday night, had been delayed by technical issues until 09.30am Wednesday morning before the mid-air emergency. Reportedly the four bags belonged to two passengers in transit from London Heathrow who had missed their connecting flight to South Africa.

A spokesperson for Air France confirmed that the crew of flight AF990A from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Johannesburg on 14 October “decided to apply the precautionary principle and return to Paris CDG after 45 minutes flight time for checks linked to the matching of the passenger list and the baggage loaded in the hold. “Security is Air France's priority and was never questioned. “The baggage security procedures are in line with regulatory procedures and as for all Air France flights, the 4 bags concerned had been scanned and inspected on departure from London Heathrow (LHR) and were in transit through Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG).”

The aircraft landed normally at 11:09 (local time) and the flight is expected to depart as soon as possible.