“So Hot”

All in all, he’d rather be in Milwaukee.

A Midwest Airlines baggage handler took an unplanned trip to Philadelphia when he was accidentally trapped in an airliner cargo hold Friday.

The man, who is in his early 20s, was shaken but not hurt by the experience, said Carol Skornicka, a senior vice president at the airline. She declined to release his name.

According to Skornicka, the man was loading bags onto Flight 150 and had stepped into the cargo hold to secure a wheelchair. While he was inside, the door closed, she said.

“Obviously, the people who were closing the door didn’t see him,” Skornicka said.

The man pounded on the walls and ceiling of the cargo hold, but nobody heard him, Skornicka said.

The plane took off shortly after 8 a.m. for its flight to Philadelphia, a trip that takes 1 hour 49 minutes.

Fortunately, the cargo hold – which also is used to transport pets – was heated and pressurized, but it doesn’t have seat belts, and “it certainly isn’t meant to carry people,” she said.

When the plane landed in Philadelphia and ramp workers opened the cargo doors, the man jumped out and asked for a cigarette, Skornicka said.

“He was a little bit stressed,” she said.

The man returned to Milwaukee on the next flight. Doctors checked him and sent him home, although he wanted to finish his shift, Skornicka said.

Midwest Airlines has launched an investigation into how the incident occurred.