Fatigue in aviation ....... Curt Lewis

Airplane Stowaway Turns Out to be FedEx Worker Who Fell Asleep

A FedEx ground worker fell asleep on a plane in Memphis Friday morning and went unnoticed before he woke up mid-flight on the way to Texas, triggering a police response when the aircraft landed, authorities said.

The ground crew member, who works two jobs, apparently became overcome with exhaustion while inside the plane and the plane's crew then took off for Lubbock, failing to notice they'd locked him inside.

Toward the end of FedEx Flight 1459, the worker, whom officials did not identify, woke up and knocked on the cabin door. "And of course the crew did not open the door," said Kelly Campbell, executive director of Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport.

The crew was able to communicate with the worker, she said, and notified air traffic control at 5:17 a.m. "Knowing that it was a FedEx employee, they instructed him to get into the jump seat and buckle up. They were almost here anyway," Campbell said.