What to do if you forgot things on the plane. What to do if you forgot something on a plane

Let's go out, let's go out... Hey, don't forget the parachutes!

What are flight attendants required to do in such a situation, and what can you do, and what should you do if airline or ground service workers claim that there were no forgotten items? To these questions from the editors incidentally Our good friend and number one on board with eight years of experience in the sky answers, referring to the instructions.

Algorithm of actions

The activities of flight attendants are strictly regulated by the company rules and “ Air Code" For each case, they have the appropriate instructions, and throughout the entire period of work, knowledge of the instructions is checked by the company’s management. After the flight, flight attendants, according to the rules, must inspect the aircraft cabin for forgotten items. Everything that was found is recorded with its location. Further events can develop according to three scenarios, depending on how quickly the passenger came to his senses, who found the “surprise” and whether the airport is a base or transit airport for the airline.

If the passenger remembers the abandoned item while the plane is still on the ground and the passenger has not passed passport control, then he should contact the airline's ground representatives. They are called ramp agents. These are the people with walkie-talkies who meet passengers at the entrance. They need to give the flight number and seat number, and also describe the lost item. These people should radio the crew. This way you can return the item quickly. However, airport employees will be required to fill out acceptance certificates, so be prepared to spend some time.
If the passenger discovered the loss after the plane took off, then there may be options. If the airport is the base for the airline, then things will remain there. They will be transferred to the lost and found bureau (“lost and found”) with all the data about the place of discovery under the acceptance certificate. To pick up your item, you need to describe it and prove your presence on the flight. Ideally, you should show your boarding pass. Information about passengers is, of course, saved, but searching for it through the airport database will take more time.
If the airport is a transit airport for the airline, and the passenger remembers things when the aircraft has already left the airport, then things need to be looked for to the “lost and found” office of the airline’s “native” airport (obviously the one from which the plane flew in. You can search for luggage remotely on the website Airport Lost&Found . You can pick up your luggage under the same conditions.
If your lost item fell under the seat or remained in the seat, and was noticed not by an airline employee, but by an employee of a cleaning company, this means that the chances of getting it back are minimal. Employees of cleaning companies do not owe anything to anyone. They can either leave the find at the airport, take it for themselves or throw it away - they do not have strict rules. Our stewardess friend clarifies that the conductors themselves can sometimes act dishonestly - although the likelihood of this is minimal. What if your colleagues snitch? But you can lose your job because of an iPad.

What to do if you forgot your equipment

Smartphones and tablets (but especially smartphones) are among the most commonly forgotten items on board an airplane. In addition to financial inconvenience, the loss of a smartphone can result in the loss of confidential information. Fortunately, most modern devices allow you to set up a remote lock feature. Take the time to turn it on and check the settings. Right now, yes.

For MacBook, iPhone, iPad

Here they talk in detail and not sadly about several ways to block Apple devices.

For Android

There is comprehensive information in this long and tedious video.

For Windows Phone

The procedure is described very well in this video.

But there's one catch: for all these services to work, the device must be turned on and connected to the network. So you have to wait until the person who found the gadget tries to use it.

More about flights:

One of the most common problems passengers have is losing their luggage at the airport. According to statistics, up to 25 million suitcases are lost annually. Fortunately for travelers, the non-refund rate is low, only 3.4%. The majority of lost suitcases and bags find their owners.

However, you need to know the sequence of actions in such a situation. Search activities are the same in all cases. And as an example, you can take the search for luggage at Sheremetyevo airport.

This procedure is regulated General rules air transport. Most of the requirements are universal for all carriers operating on domestic and international routes.

Suitcases are issued after passport control in a specially designated room. Items must be received immediately when they arrive for delivery, and at the exit from the terminal you will have to present a tear-off coupon for the baggage tag.

The internal rules of airport terminals detail the issuance procedure. In Sheremetyevo, cargo can be received in the delivery hall, which is served on a conveyor belt indicated by an indication on the information board.

If the load is missing from the conveyor belt

Everyone should know what to do when a suitcase or bag is not found on a conveyor. The main thing here is not to panic. Loss of baggage by an airline is a serious problem, but it can be solved. First you need to make sure that things are missing:

Wait for the end of delivery. They may have been the last to be unloaded.
Inspect the transporters delivering cargo from other aircraft. Rarely, but mistakes do happen.
Check the oversized load belt.

If there are no doubts left and things are lost, you will have to contact the search service at the terminal. There is a possibility that they were mixed up upon receipt and are already waiting for owners from the employees of this service.

Where to go

Usually this counter is called “Lost&Found” or “Luggage Search” in Russian. If necessary, any of the airport employees will show where it is. It is possible that such a stand is missing. Then the place to contact could be:

representative office of the air carrier whose crew performed the flight;
representative office of the national air carrier of the country of destination;
if there is neither one nor the other, contact the airport administration.

Before applying, check that you have the documents required to complete your application:

ID card;
ticket;
tear-off coupon baggage tag.

Office staff must help the passenger at the time of request, regardless of the time of day. The victim registers necessary documents in the form of a statement of loss addressed to the carrier, fills out a Search Report or Property Irregularity Report (in the abbreviation the name is written as PIR).

How to fill out the act

The claim must be filed immediately after discovery of the loss. Before filling out, you will need to present the tear-off coupon, which is usually attached to the air ticket. The Act must indicate:

flight number;
passport series and number;
color, weight and size characteristics of the suitcase;
special features (stickers, external defects, bright details, trademarks, name tags, etc.);
contact details and address to which the lost suitcase, bag or backpack needs to be delivered.

Example of a completed act (click to enlarge):

The claim is made in two copies. One of them remains with the applicant, and the second goes to the management of the airline, which must organize the search. If the loss could not be discovered within five days, a detailed list of things that were inside the luggage is attached to the application.

Search algorithm

Regardless of the reasons for the loss, the search for baggage is the responsibility of the air carrier. If the flight was operated by Aeroflot, its employees will conduct the search. The search must begin immediately upon receipt of a written application.

The carrier sends requests:

to the airports of departure and arrival for the presence of things;
to airports where items may have been sent by mistake;
When they are detected, a request is sent for delivery to the destination.

The found loss is delivered to the address specified by the owner in the act. Delivery does not require additional payment and is carried out at the expense of the airline. When receiving things, you must present your passport, coupon and certificate, which must be kept until the end of the search.

How to track searches

Usually the loss is found quickly, but sometimes it can take a long search. In this case, contact details of airline employees will be required. Take care of this when filling out the PIR. The service desk has telephone numbers, which you should write down in advance. If you have internet access you can use the unified World Tracer database, through which the owner can track the search.

After receiving a statement of loss, all data is entered into the database. To access information in the request form, you must indicate personal data and the code received when drawing up the Search Report. On the Sheremetyevo Airport website you can see a list of airlines that are tracked in this database.

How to get compensation

Since the carrier is responsible for the cargo, the airline will compensate for the loss. Claims for damages can only be made after three weeks. If during this period the search for the baggage put on the wanted list is unsuccessful, it is considered lost.

Compensation must be paid on the basis of a written claim, which must be submitted before 6 months if problems occurred on domestic flights, and up to 18 months for international flights.

The following are attached to the application:

air ticket;
tear-off coupon;
insurance documents, if the items were insured;
receipts confirming the value of the contents of the suitcase or bag.

The airline management is obliged to consider the claim within 30 days and pay the amount required by law or refuse in writing.

Payment amount

Amounts of compensation payments for losses on international flights established by international agreements. If things were lost during an international or transit flight, when one landing was outside the country, 20 dollars or 19 euros are paid per kilogram of cargo. On domestic flights the amount is 600 rubles per kilogram.

If the exact weight is unknown, then calculations are made using the average, which is 35 kg per person. In cases where the value of the property was announced by the passenger in advance, payment is made in the stated amount. The amount will be higher if the items are insured.

In addition to the specified compensation, you can claim:

Compensation for other losses. When a passenger has to miss a connecting flight or train departure, the company must refund the cost of the tickets.
Payments for moral damage. If there is no way to confirm health problems, their size will be small.
If the carrier did not satisfy the claims voluntarily, and compensation had to be obtained through the court, an additional fine in the amount of 50% of the amount paid to the passenger is possible.

Such payments will most likely have to be sought through the court, so after receiving the found items, you should not sign the documents stating that there are no claims.

Other payments

In cases where luggage is lost and a passenger is left without essential items, some companies may offer reimbursement for the cost of purchasing them. This is not the carrier's responsibility, but most provide such assistance for reputational purposes. The amounts are usually small and are paid after receipts confirming expenses are provided. When purchasing clothes, half the cost is paid.

If these expenses were not paid by the company, they can be included in the list of legal claims.

In addition to the loss of bags and suitcases, passengers have to deal with other troubles. Usually this is:

stealing things;
property damage;
mixed up suitcases.

In the first two cases, you will also have to contact the carrier to file a claim. Based on this, the issue of compensation is considered. This may be full or partial cost, depending on the decision of the commission. If a suitcase breaks, compensation for repairs is possible.

The latter situation requires the prompt return of items to the carrier’s office or to the airport.

How to avoid problems

Most often, items are lost on connecting flights when a carelessly attached tag comes loose. In this case, things can either fly away in any direction or remain in place. To prevent such situations, speed up the detection of losses, and reduce material losses, it is necessary to:

If possible, avoid routes with transfers;
make sure that the tag is present and that it is firmly attached;
remove previous tags left over from previous flights;
do not transport particularly valuable items;
insure the cargo;
wrap your bag or suitcase in plastic, which will reduce the risk of damage and theft;
When choosing a carrier, read the reliability ratings and take them into account when purchasing tickets.

Be sure to include your last name with initials, contact information, destination and flight on the name tag. Although this partially duplicates the information from the coupon, it will significantly speed up the process of finding luggage if it is lost. If you have encountered troubles, do not despair, more than 90% of losses are found within the first two days.

Where do lost items go?

All things forgotten at airports and airplanes migrate to the lost and found office or unclaimed baggage rooms, which are located in every air terminal. They are transferred there by crew members or cleaning company employees who clean airliner cabins. If an item is found by airport staff, it will also be taken to the lost and found office. All unowned items must first undergo a safety check.

How long are things stored?

According to Russian law, checked baggage is stored free of charge at the arrival airport for two days. After this, the carrier or service organization is responsible for it. If the baggage tag contains the name and contact information of the owner, the airline will send him written notice about how to receive the items. From the moment the letter is sent, the suitcase will remain in storage for another six months, and if the owner is not identified, then the countdown will begin from the day the baggage arrives at the airport.

Items lost on the plane are also stored for no more than six months, after which they are subject to sale or destruction. If in hand luggage or there are perishable products in unclaimed baggage, they are disposed of.

At foreign airports, items forgotten on planes must be stored for two years (according to international rules), but hubs often transfer luggage for sale after three months, setting the storage period themselves.

Photo: asiandelight / Shutterstock

I heard that my things might be sold at auction. This is true?

No, if you realize about the loss, they will simply return it to you. Another thing is forgotten luggage that no one needs.

In Europe and the USA, sales of forgotten items at special auctions are very popular. The event turns into a real celebration, attracting hundreds of people and members of the press. The main intrigue is that the contents of the suitcase remain a mystery until it falls into the hands of the new owner.

In Germany, sales of forgotten items are held by the Wendt auction house. Here you can purchase unclaimed luggage and items from Lufthansa. About 20 such events take place throughout the country every year.

In the UK, several auction houses - Greasby's, Wellers, BCVA - are engaged in sales of ownerless items from aircraft.

Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport also hosts large-scale sales. A couple of years ago, about two thousand forgotten suitcases were among the lots.

Sales of unclaimed luggage were held at various times Turkish Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and many others.

One of the largest luggage auctions in the world is held twice a year in international airport Miami, where about 10 thousand items are lost annually. It is in it that the heroes of the program “Baggage Wars”, which airs on the Discovery Channel, participate. Items come to this auction after two months of storage. There are so many of them that there is simply not enough space at the airport to look for owners longer. To enter the auction, you need to pay three dollars.

One more famous place, where you can buy items forgotten on planes is the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro (Alabama, USA). Total area Unclaimed Baggage Center exceeds 12 thousand square meters. Luggage is brought here whose owners have not been found for three months. Here you can find clothes, accessories, electronics, jewelry, books and even musical instruments. Over the decades, the store became a major tourist attraction in Alabama.

In March 2014, Prostoturist encountered a problem: we forgot on board the plane mobile phone, and the loss was discovered a couple of hours after landing. There was no point in returning to the airport late in the evening, and reviews of such situations on travel forums were unanimous: lost equipment was not found and was not returned.

However, in our case, the search for the phone was still crowned with success, and at the same time allowed us to formulate several rules for a successful “search operation”.

The chances of returning an item forgotten on a plane depend on two factors: what exactly was forgotten and who found the item first. And a little more - from your persistence in searching.

The following can find and retrieve your forgotten property:

other passengers getting off after you. In this case, the fate of the item depends on their integrity: it will either be appropriated or given to the flight attendants;
the flight attendants themselves, inspecting the cabin after passengers exit. For you this is - best option. In this case, the probability that the item will end up in the “lost and found” office (“lost and found” is a search service for missing and forgotten things, where everything found on the airport territory ends up), from where you can pick it up in the future, is the greatest;
employees who will clean the cabin before boarding new passengers. This option is worse than the previous one. Firstly, some of the things found are simply thrown away in this case. Secondly, cabin cleaning is often carried out not by airport services, but by specially hired cleaning organizations. We don’t want to accuse their employees of dishonesty, but we still have to state that the likelihood that your valuables will be left “as a souvenir” in this situation is higher, and it is much more difficult to determine which employee worked in the salon.

Despite this, the likelihood of finding and returning a tablet or mobile phone is still higher than a book, map or brochure. The latter are usually simply thrown away. Jackets, glasses, and bags are in the best position - they most likely will not be thrown away, and there is no particular point in appropriating them. The most “risky” category, which disappears more often than others, is duty-free goods, especially expensive alcohol.

However, there is no rule here: it happens that the flight attendant catches up with the passenger already at passport control and returns his forgotten glasses, passport, tablet or wallet. And it also happens that forgotten thing cannot be found either in the cabin or in “lost and found” 10 minutes after passengers disembark from the plane.

Where to look

If you discover something missing immediately after disembarking from the plane, go to the “lost and found” service at the airport. Describe your situation here, and if the item was found while cleaning the salon, you will receive it back immediately. Particularly desperate passengers try to get back on board the plane and find what they have forgotten on their own, but this is only possible in the most exceptional cases, with the most loyal crew, and if you have not yet left the plane. Usually, if you leave the plane, you will not be allowed back.

If you realized that you forgot something on the plane only when you arrived home - as was the case in our case - then you can either return to the airport or contact hotline“lost and found” services. Explain that you forgot which flight and on what day. In theory, they could then tell you whether the item is in stock. But they named us a few more telephone numbers, which needed to be called back.

By the way, the Internet page “lostandfound” of Berlin Tegel Airport, where we arrived, recommends immediately contacting the air carrier to find things forgotten on board. But the airline’s contact center directed us back to the airport. So there is no single mechanism here; if you want to find your item, call everyone.

There is another option: look for your lost items in the catalog of found items on the airport website. The disadvantage is that such catalogs are not available at all airports. But if you are lucky and you find what you were looking for, you can immediately print out (rewrite) the description of the item from the catalog and go to the address that will probably be listed on the same website.

In addition to airport services, forgotten and lost items in some cities are also stored by special services, such as, for example, GlobeGround in and Easyfind in. You can find a similar service in the city you need simply by searching “lost property<название города>"on the Internet.

If not found

Usually, if the lost/forgotten item is not in the “lost and found” of the arrival airport, then the search is stopped: the passenger believes that his property was either thrown away or stolen by airport employees. But often after this the item can still be found.

This was the case in our case: there was no phone either at the airport or at the Berlin GlobeGround. Then we decided to check at the airport where our flight arrived from and where it was subsequently supposed to return.

And indeed, the Easyfind database of found items included a mobile phone matching the description, found on the same day, but at Zurich airport. Either the phone was not found when cleaning the cabin in Berlin, or the company's flight attendants transferred the found items to the base airport.

After that, we sent an application to the email address indicated on the Easyfind website, and the found mobile phone was transferred to us at Berlin airport. By the way, Easyfind services are paid: if you pick up your find from Zurich airport, it will cost 20 francs. Shipping items by mail within Switzerland – 40 francs. But sending an item abroad - to an airport that has direct message with Zurich on Swiss airlines – free of charge.

In any case, if your item was found by one of the “lost and found bureaus”, check whether you have to pay for its services. And don’t forget to take your passport with you when you go to pick up your find.

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An algorithm of actions based on our own experience.

Probably, many of you have forgotten something on a plane: in a seat pocket, on a luggage rack, or when something accidentally falls under the seat. After a long or night flight, when fatigue overcomes and concentration is zero. And then you’re on your way home in a taxi and suddenly realize that your favorite headphones are not with you, but were left somewhere on the plane.
On my flights, I forgot books, twice, a huge box of French pastries from Maxim, which I was taking to my girlfriend, and even the case for these same headphones, which I forgot the day before yesterday, after being thrown around a lot on the flight from Rostov to Moscow.
I discovered the “forgetfulness” of the case only a few days later, I simply forgot about books and cakes, but I felt sorry for the headphones, they have been traveling with me for two years now, having visited almost forty countries.
Today I returned them, and here's how to do it right.

As soon as you realize that you forgot something in the cabin of the plane, you should not immediately yell at your wife that she is a crow, drill your husband’s brains out about a forgotten purchase, or in despair throw yourself under the wheels of the Aeroexpress. All is not lost: there are special services at airports that can save you and your lost one.
The first thing you need to do is take out your smartphone and Google the phone number of the lost items service at the airport you arrived at. Then we call, introduce ourselves, tell you the flight number, arrival time and your seat number (if you remember). Then describe the forgotten item in as much detail as possible.
In the event that you discover a loss almost immediately after leaving the board, this service will contact the service responsible for cleaning the board after the flight, and you will not even have to leave the airport. Wait a while and your item will be returned to you through the baggage counter.
If the loss is discovered at home or after a certain time has passed, then know that the cleaning service must hand over your lost item to the forgotten items service, where it is entered into the register, labeled and stored.
During your call, the employee checks the records of your flight in the database and compares it with the description you give over the phone. Coincidence? Go to the airport to pick up your lost item. You need to have with you the passport with which you bought the ticket, and preferably a boarding pass with your seat number (but not required)

The photo shows the baggage and lost items search service at Vnukovo Airport, Moscow.

It is interesting that in Vnukovo, in our computer age, the register of things forgotten by passengers is still kept in the old fashioned way, in a notebook. While they were looking for my headphones, the girls received a call from a passenger who had forgotten something on the plane, and they looked for his item according to the description in this notebook.

Keep in mind that forgotten items are stored in the warehouse for 30 days, after which they are disposed of.
Storage is free for the first two days (including the day of your flight), but storage fees apply for all subsequent days.
In the case of Vnukovo airport, daily storage costs 70 rubles.

So, without getting upset and not being too lazy to make a phone call, I returned my favorite travel headphones, with which I expect to travel through quite a few more countries and visit more than one continent.

For information, telephone numbers of lost property services at major Russian airports

Moscow, Sheremetyevo +7 495 578-74-64.
Moscow, Domodedovo +7 495 504-02-58 (domestic flights), +7 495 504-02-85 (international flights)
Moscow, Vnukovo + 7 495 436-45-13 (domestic flights), +7 495 436-29-32 (international flights)
St. Petersburg, Pulkovo +7 812 337-38-22, +7 812 337-34-44
Sochi, Adler +7 800 301-1991
Simferopol +7 3652 59-57-37
Ekaterinburg, Koltsovo +7 343 226-85-65
Novosibirsk, Tolmachevo +7 383 216-97-66
Tyumen, Roshchino +7 3452 496-224
Vladivostok +7 423 230-68-43
Kazan +7 843 254-00-80
Samara, Kurumoch +7 846 996 53 23
Kaliningrad, Khrabrovo +7 4012 610-324