Originally Posted by Fly AA J all the way
Seems to me that the pax who rang the button might have been concerned that a baggage door was open on the plane, and somehow the pilot didn't know. Not much less far-fetched than the other reads of the OP, but of slightly more justifiable concern.
This is not a far-fetched situation. I took off from SLC once on a DL jet with rear-mounted engines. The baggage door had not been secured. On opening it cut off air inflow to one of the engines, which flamed out. Once the door was no longer being sucked in to block the engine, air flow resumed and the engine restarted - only to pull the door again, flame out again, etc., etc., as the plane made a slow turn on one engine and returned to the airport. I don't know how much luggage fell out, if any, but unsecured baggage doors upon takeoff - while hopefully rare - are not unheard of.