Flights divert all the time, for a variety of reasons. However, the diversion of a long haul flight last night is one of the stranger ones that we’ve seen in some time…
American 777 returns to Buenos Aires over suspicious noises
This incident happened on Thursday, October 31, 2024, and involves American Airlines flight AA954, scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires (EZE) to New York (JFK). The flight was operated by a 12-year-old Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code N9717AN.
The flight was supposed to depart Buenos Aires at 9:00PM, and ended up taking off at 9:17PM, more or less on time. However, after takeoff, passengers and crew in the cabin heard loud sounds coming from the cargo hold, with the belief being that there was someone in there who was trying to make themselves known.
The pilots were alerted of the situation, and they made the decision to discontinue the flight, and return to Buenos Aires. Authorities on the ground in Argentina were told of a possible security threat in the cargo hold, and prepared accordingly.
The jet first flew northwest for around an hour, until it was near Cordoba. Then it turned around, and landed back in Buenos Aires at 11:19PM local time, after a 2hr2min flight.
What caused the mysterious cargo hold noises?
Given that authorities were warned of a potential security threat, a full scale emergency response was activated once the plane landed back in Buenos Aires. The belief was that there was someone in the cargo hold. Did someone unintentionally get stuck in the cargo hold? Was there a stowaway? Did someone have bad intentions?
Given all the unknowns, armed police stormed the cargo hold of the jet, to determine what was going on. Video footage of that is quite something, as it must be weird to watch this unfold while you’re sitting on a plane.
Here’s where it gets strange. Media in Argentina reports that upon searching the cargo hold, nothing suspicious was discovered. There were no people in there, so the source of the suspicious noises couldn’t be determined… what a mystery. Unfortunately at this point the crew had timed out, so the flight ended up being canceled for the night.
For what it’s worth, we’ve seen some situations in the past where ground workers got stuck in a cargo hold, and tried to make noise to get attention and be rescued. When that has happened, it was typically because someone took a nap in the cargo hold, and didn’t wake up before it was closed. But that doesn’t appear to be the case here. This almost has the same vibe as the ghosts of Eastern Air Lines flight 401…
Bottom line
An American Boeing 777 scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires to New York ended up returning to its origin after loud noises were heard in the cargo hold. An emergency response was activated, though nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. The flight still ended up being canceled, given that the crew timed out.
We have in the past sometimes seen people get stuck in cargo holds, so this is a real mystery, since that wasn’t the case here.
What do you make of this cargo hold incident?
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