Originally Posted by
SonTech
Always wondered about bags that are in the hold and needing to be offloaded. Given each has a barcode linking to a pax, can they be located relatively easily from this if needed to be offloaded? So can the baggage handlers make a guesstimate as to where they might be in the hold based on which baggage loading truck they were on, ie it was the third of four? Or it even more accurate that they know (for example) this particular bag was #124 of 170 so probably at the start of the last third of those loaded in the hold?
Usually the answer is yes, they would have a rough idea where it was on the aircraft.
I always think it's pretty impressive when someone fails to board a heavily-loaded A380, and their bag(s) can be found and offloaded and the rest of the baggage reloaded within 20-25 minutes. Especially when the baggage handlers should probably have moved on to other flights by then.
The main additional downside is that the cans sometimes seem to get swapped around in the reloading process. So you have to prepare yourself for "random baggage delivery day" when you get to the other end.