A passenger on a recent Air Canada flight was stunned after witnessing a baggage handler carelessly tossing luggage from a stairway into a bin several feet below.
Dwayne Stewart, a passenger on flight AC137 from Toronto to Vancouver, was shocked when he saw an Air Canada employee throwing several pieces of luggage into a cargo bin about a dozen feet below.
Stewart began recording the incident as fellow passengers looked on in amazement.
According to Stewart, the flight was fully booked and some passengers in economy class were not able to store their carry-on luggage in the overhead compartments.
He said flight attendants told passengers that the luggage would need to be stored in cargo “hold” with the rest of the checked luggage.
Stewart said he saw the baggage carrier toss at least 12 different bags down, sometimes two or three bags at a time.
“I thought it wasn’t real. I didn’t think what we were looking at was actually occurring, or at least it wasn’t occurring on purpose,” Stewart told CTV Vancouver.
“The bags just kind of dropped through mid-air and you’re shocked to see them land and hit other bags. The guy seemed to be unwilling to take the time to carry them down,” he said.
Many passengers can be heard wincing and moaning in the video as they watch several heavy bags being dropped into the bin.
“Well, good thing my computer’s in there,” one passenger is heard saying.
“Sorry Air Canada, this is a fail,” another passenger added.
Stewart, whose own baggage was safely tucked away in carry-on, said he does not know if any of the bags were damaged as a result of the incident.
Air Canada issued a statement in response to the incident Friday afternoon, stating that is was “extremely disappointed” by the actions seen in the clip.
“This clearly goes against our standard baggage handling procedures which dictates that gate-checked bags are to be hand carried down to the ramp,” the statement read.
Stewart said Air Canada has reached out to him and apologized for incident, stating that the two employees in the video would be “dealt with swiftly.”
Stewart said he doesn’t blame the baggage handlers, saying that Air Canada should have offered better alternatives for dealing with the baggage overload.
“Management has to provide them with a better way to take care of a high volume of checked bags at the last moment,” he said.
“They could have had a variety of different solutions that don’t involve something being tossed 20 feet in the air.”
“Give them a ramp, give them some more man power, give them a slide, give them some other solution that keeps them safe but also keeps the bags safe,” he said.
Meanwhile the YouTube video has sparked anger among online users, many criticizing Air Canada for its poor customer service.
“Wow, I can’t believe someone could b (sic) so careless and not think about what valuable items people may have in there,” said a user by the name of Ashanti Ovahness.
“Grounds for termination,” said William Walseth.
Air Canada said it has launched an investigation into the incident and will remain in contact with customers.
With files from CTV Vancouver
