home Equipment Where do items forgotten on a plane go? How to return lost luggage: my experience with Aeroflot

Where do items forgotten on a plane go? How to return lost luggage: my experience with Aeroflot

Airplane passengers sometimes face the unfortunate problem of losing personal belongings. It is known that a certain part of luggage, consisting of small items (phone, documents, medicines, clothes, etc.), can be taken with you into the aircraft cabin. Regular customers major airlines, know that air carrier employees carefully monitor the remaining belongings after passengers disembark, and can tell you what to do if you forgot things on the plane. Let's understand the situation, how the safety of lost personal luggage occurs, as well as what the process of returning it is.

Each flight attendant has responsibilities that include providing comfort and peace of mind to the passengers of the cabin where he works. If there is any personal item in the aircraft cabin, he takes it to a special department where such forgotten items are stored. Such a room is available at every airport. Regarding your loss, you can contact us here at any time, without delaying the issue for long.

The operating conditions of the unclaimed baggage room include strict rules that the passenger must study before the first flight. For various cities and countries, the storage regime in such rooms may differ.

But for most, the following rules apply:

The shelf life of items is 6 months if a person forgot things in the aircraft cabin;
items forgotten on the territory of the airport or terminal are placed in the unclaimed baggage room for only a month;
if there is a tag or documents with the owner’s identification data, the airport employee or flight attendant will immediately inform him;
Sending for storage and subsequent receipt of personal belongings from the room occurs after inspection by the aviation security service.

Today, all passengers, while at the airport or on a flight, have some modern gadget in their hands. Children are especially prone to being absent-minded and inattentive to such things. As a result, smartphones, tablets, laptops, headphones and other technical devices often remain lost on airplanes. Hats, scarves, and gloves are forgotten among accessories and clothing in winter. For expensive equipment, people always turn to the unclaimed luggage storage room, which cannot be said about simple gloves or a hat.

After the plane lands and passengers disembark, flight attendants carefully inspect each seat for gadgets and clothing left without owners. For transit flights, this procedure is carried out when the aircraft returns to the departure airport. The owner can pick it up forgotten phone at the airport of the city from which he departed.

The websites of carrier companies provide telephone numbers for contacting managers who will receive information about the loss.

What can you do to ensure that your lost item is quickly returned to you? When preparing for your trip, pay attention to the markings on the things you plan to take with you into the cabin of the airliner. Small tags with your mobile phone number will help the flight attendant quickly contact you when they find a forgotten item. And it’s best to attach a sticker to your smartphone with two or three contact options and the following information:

owner's first and last name;
additional number of another telecom operator;
E-mail address;
mailing address.

Remember that it is important to arrive to claim your lost item before the expiration date in the unclaimed baggage room. Additional information You can learn about the functioning of this structure from the employees of the airport where the plane landed and on board where things were forgotten.

What happens to items that are not returned to their owners within the established storage period? In accordance with the airport rules, items from the unclaimed baggage storage room are disposed of or sent for sale. Decision on future fate Such a thing is decided by a special commission of airport management.

When you discover something missing on board an airplane, you should immediately contact the flight attendants. If you lose things on the airport premises, its employees will help you find the storage room. Clear and quick actions by a passenger who has forgotten things on the plane will lead to the successful return of personal luggage. You should not panic about this, because the correct actions when leaving the plane can affect the positive result of the search. Steps to follow in emergency situation with luggage include the following:

make sure there are no items in your pockets or bag;
tell the nearest airport employee about your loss;
remember where the ramp agent is located if you have not yet gone through passport control;
Please be patient and go through the procedure of drawing up the transfer and acceptance certificate.

Ramp agents, who have a walkie-talkie to communicate with the crew, can help find out if your item is on the plane. Passengers in a hurry to catch their next flight or leave the airport may be delayed, as the process of returning a forgotten item takes some time.

What to do if the plane with the forgotten item has already taken off? Then you need to find out about the type of airport for your flight. If the base is the main one for this air carrier, then all forgotten items will end up in the airport storage room. Just contact the so-called “lost and found office”, where you will most likely discover the loss. In English, this department is called “lost and found”. But here you should present evidence that the item belongs to you.

This will help:

special features – color, scratches, stickers, etc.;
phone numbers you often call;
presence of a boarding pass.

The ticket shows where you were sitting and where the flight attendant found forgotten thing. Information about this must be recorded immediately after discovery in a special journal. There is one on board every airliner.

If the plane arrived at a given airport in transit and has already departed further, then the passenger will only have to contact the staff of the airport from which the original flight took place. That is, you need to arrive in the city from which you departed and follow the steps described above.

There are situations when a flight attendant does not find a forgotten item at the passenger's boarding area. For example, this happens when the phone falls under a chair. Then a cleaning company employee can find it while cleaning the salon. He will transfer the item to the unclaimed baggage room if he acts prudently. But more often than not, if the on-board conductor does not detect the loss in time, then the item does not fall back into the hands of the owner.

To prevent the loss of not only a valuable gadget, but also confidential information, we advise you to take care in advance to protect your device from hacking by third parties. To do this, you can simply enable the function of blocking your tablet or laptop from a distance. You can learn about the capabilities of an individual smartphone from the data provided by the manufacturer. It is easy to activate it through the settings menu.

What happens to lost luggage at the airport?

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:

identification;
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 Required 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 be delivered to lost suitcase, bag or backpack.

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 items were lost during 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 payment of a 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:

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.

What to do if you forgot your phone or things on the plane?

Do you know? It's clear what to look for. What if you already remembered your favorite phone? This is what we're talking about today.

And also about the fact that you should not take photographs and filming. One dissenter ended up behind bars for these actions. But first things first.

Several times during our flights, confused passengers were called out on time. I personally handed over a laptop that someone had forgotten on the seat. We usually do not jostle in the aisle, but wait for most of the passengers to exit. So we saw a laptop on the chair in front.

This is absolutely no wonder. After a long (or not so long) time, my head is filled with completely different things. If you haven’t managed to sleep well yet, then it’s quite possible to forget anything on the luggage rack or under the seat.

The first scenario

If you missed your grandmother's gift - your favorite phone, while still in the airport building, then consider yourself lucky. For both you and grandma. It remains to be seen who will be more upset.

With a confident step, go straight to the special “Forgotten Things” service. Or, after googling a friend’s phone number, we call the same person. Then everything happens as in the cartoon “Lost and Found”, a multi-part series, by the way.

On the phone, calmly and clearly state:

Your first and last name
Flight number
Arrival time
Place number
Detailed description of the loss

Then you'll have to wait. A special service will contact cleaning services and find out whether the missing phone was found or not. If you are lucky and other passengers have not expropriated the lost item (this also happens), you will be notified and you can return the lost item to the lost luggage counter.

Second scenario

If panic started already at home. The steps are almost the same until the moment of receipt. Here you should know that if an item is found, it is transferred to the lost items service.

There it is:

Label
Entered into a special register
After this it is sent for storage

If, after checking, the service found a lost item based on your detailed inventory, then immediately fly in and pick up the lost item.

Don't forget to grab:

Passport
Boarding pass with seat (if not thrown away)

Separately, I would like to add that things are stored free of charge for only 2 days, and then a fee is charged. For example, in Vnukovo it costs 70 rubles/day. Keep this in mind and don't lose anything.

Forgotten items are stored in a warehouse for a month and then simply disposed of. Be careful and vigilant.

About filming at the airport

When we disagree with something, or even strongly oppose it, it is about social services and how you are treated. It has become common practice to film all actions on your phone: both yours and those of the service. As evidence in problematic situations.

You can often see such videos in news reports. Even schoolchildren are already filming the actions of their teacher or classmates and posting them online.

So, keep this in mind and let others take note.

One dissatisfied comrade from the USA, Joseph Lee from Texas, returning from Thailand with his son and having a layover in Abu Dhabi, decided to take a walk along this fairyland. Everything would be fine, but before boarding they had to go through a second search. By the way, in the UAE everything is very strict.

It has its own rules and laws (starting with inspection), which simply must be followed.

Firstly, the queues are long at the airport due to more thorough security checks.
Secondly, an eye scan is also required upon entry. If you have ever been to the UAE, you know.

For some reason, the customs officers apparently didn’t like Joseph Lee’s look or he behaved too relaxed, but he was asked to undergo a more thorough check. Which the passenger really didn’t like. In response to the claims, Lee turned on the camera and began filming.

All!

His son was not seen again until landing and flew to Texas alone.

It all ended sadly for the ardent lover of democracy. In addition to a fine of $2,700 and detention for a day, he served 10 days in prison for violating local laws. After which he was deported to the USA.

Remember that filming in the security check area is prohibited in all countries! Tie a knot for memory.

If you weren't stopped somewhere, consider yourself very lucky. Even if a conflict situation is contested, this cannot be done.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse - the most basic legal principle.

On this note I will end the article. I hope you will be careful when traveling and then annoying troubles will definitely be avoided.

This is also interesting:

5 tips that will be useful when traveling to paradise: what to do in Bali so that you have something to remember in retirement 25 amazing facts about mobile phone Rules of conduct in Germany and beyond: what tourists should not do

Peter. It’s a cold morning, deserted streets and I’m leisurely walking towards the Chernyshevskaya metro station. Ahead is a flight to Kyiv and home...

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a black cat runs across my path! This is on the deserted morning streets of the center of St. Petersburg! I called the animal, greeted it and continued on my way, thinking about luck, accidents and other mysticism.

Having reached the Moskovskaya metro station, I safely transferred to the bus to Pulkovo-1 airport and reached the terminal without incident. There, after having breakfast, I checked in for the flight and, after customs inspection, proceeded to the departure waiting area.

Outside the window, a plane hummed its engines very close. It seemed to me that he was being prepared for departure. “Isn’t this mine?” - I thought. Meanwhile, a white car with flashing lights drove up to the plane and began to lift its body up to the doors of the airliner. The doors opened and a gangway was brought up to them. Immediately people started walking back and forth along it. They carried a stretcher... They carried a woman out of the plane... Feet first...

“If only it wasn’t our plane,” flashed through my head. The remnants of the mood gave way to gloomy thoughts about existence and death. Amazing!

Fortunately, it was not our plane...

Sorry for such a long and lyrical introduction. I just wanted to convey the mood that probably led to the loss of my tablet.

So, already at home that same day, after having lunch, I didn’t find my iPad in my bag. I started to remember: you know, during takeoff and landing, we are asked not to use electrical appliances? I, as a law-abiding citizen, followed this requirement by putting the tablet in the pocket of the seat in front of me (never, never, ever do that!). I opened the magazine and prepared myself for all the delights of landing a plane in fog. It is not surprising that once on the ground, I hastened to leave first the plane, and then the airport.

The iPad stayed on the plane! My tablet was left on the plane!!!

Having overcome an attack of panic, then anger, and then resentment (here I must thank my wife Valyusha for her enormous support), I completely said goodbye to my beautiful tablet. However, I could not take any action. What to do if you forgot something on board the plane?

To begin with, you need to call the lost and found office of the arrival airport, which we, or rather Valyusha, did. In Boryspil, our appeal was registered, explaining, however, that after the passengers disembark, the plane is cleaned and if anything is found on board, it is handed over to the crew. The crew gives the find to the airline. An item could only get into the lost and found office if it was grabbed by one of the plane passengers. That did not happen.

“Your tablet was not brought to us... Call the airline, call the next airport of arrival, because the cleaners may not have noticed your iPad. You understand..."

Got through! At the other end, a girl operator answers me. I explain to her the whole situation. She is clearly embarrassed. “We don’t deal with such issues...” she says. “... call the airport of arrival, the lost and found office.”

Everything is in a loop...

I ask Google: “I forgot what to do on the plane.” I found several topics where the main advice was to forget and not worry.

Lovely!

I turn on “lost mode” for my tablet. If, I think, they connect it to the Internet, they will see the following picture:

It's not very effective, to be honest. It is much more effective to password-protect the device. Anyway.

I find all possible contacts: Boryspil, Pulkovo, Rossiya airline. I am writing to each email with the following content:

Hello!

On February 14, 2013, I flew flight FV 0841 of Rossiya Airlines on the route St. Petersburg - Kyiv. Departure time is 9:40. Arrival time is 9:40. Place 22A. Coming out of the plane at Terminal D of the Boryspil airport in Kyiv, I forgot my iPad tablet computer in my information pocket. It came in a brown leather case with Yoobao embossed on it. The device itself is black, 16 Gb, to unlock you need to enter a code. On the same day, I made calls to Rossiya Airlines, where I was advised to contact the receiving airport. The tablet was not found in the Boryspil lost and found office. They advised me to contact Pulkovo.

Please help me find my iPad!!!

Sincerely,
—
Dmitry Bespalov

In addition, I find the Rossiya airline in in social networks and I also write there - Facebook, VKontakte, twitter.

The first to unsubscribe were from Pulkovo:

Dmitry, hello!
Unfortunately, your tablet computer cannot be at Pulkovo Airport, since items forgotten on the plane can be brought for storage to the arrival airport after the aircraft is cleaned or stored at the airline. We recommend that you contact Boryspil Airport and Rossiya Airlines again.

Sincerely,
Sycheva Svetlana
Specialist "Quality Control and Complaints Service"
Pulkovo Airport
OOO " Air Gate Northern Capital"

I answered:

Hello Svetlana!

It is possible that the tablet was found upon the plane’s arrival at Pulkovo. The fact is that the Rossiya airline plane arrived in Kyiv at 9:50, and at 10:30, as far as I know, it was supposed to fly back to St. Petersburg. The cleaners could simply not have noticed it due to extremely limited time.

Please check with your lost and found office to see if the tablet was brought to them!

Thank you!!!

Sincerely,
—
Dmitry Bespalov

Dmitriy,
Yes, of course, such a situation is possible.
But, unfortunately, in the baggage tracing department of the Pulkovo-1 airport, where forgotten things are handed over, your tablet was not brought.
Inspection and cleaning aircraft Produced by Rossiya Airlines OJSC.
Unfortunately, we cannot organize a search for your item, because... This is within the competence of Rossiya Airlines.
We recommend that you contact Rossiya Airlines again.

Rossiya Airlines contacts:
http://www.rossiya-airlines.ru
In St. Petersburg: tel. 633 38 00, 633 38 43

In general, I am very pleased with their efficiency. The request was even assigned a number, which indicates a very high-quality system of working with clients. I didn't even think about it!

After a couple of days, I finally came to terms with the loss of the device. I began to think about what to do or not do tomorrow. One thing I knew for sure: I wouldn’t buy myself a new tablet. Something like self-punishment.

Imagine my joy when I received a letter to my email with the following content:

Dear Dmitry!
Your iPad was found on board the plane and is located in the Kiev representative office of Rossiya Airlines. We ask you to provide us with your contact phone number so that an airline representative can contact you and discuss ways to return your tablet computer.

Sincerely,
Quality service of SE MA "Boryspil"

On the same day, an employee of Rossiya Airlines contacted me. He said that they had already taken my tablet, and they even wrote a receipt about it. The Kiev representative office of Rossiya Airlines was surprised to learn about the continuation of this story. According to me, I even had to threaten the new owner of my iPad with the police.

In general, I am quite surprised by the whole situation. How was this man not scared? After all, having stolen a device worth more than 5,000 UAH. You can easily get a deadline. Yes, it will most likely be suspended, but this is a criminal offense. And he signs that the tablet is his. Marvelous!

I am writing this note from the very tablet that is discussed in it. He is safe and sound. I received it back with a completely dead battery, which is why the Find My iPad function was of no use.

Let me systematize what lessons I learned from this story.

1. Never forget anything on airplanes, or anywhere else in general.

2. If you forgot anything on board the plane, call the airline first. Better yet, do as I did - write to the airport of arrival and the airport by email. Surprisingly, it works! In the letter, do not forget to describe the forgotten thing - black, rough, small, hissing.)

3. Set passwords on all your electronic devices. In case of loss, you will be able to get a certain head start in time and prove, if necessary, that the device is exactly yours.

Also, I would like to thank the employee of Rossiya Airlines for taking my tablet from the attacker and delivering it to a convenient (!!!) place on the same day! His name is Khomenko Nikolay Anatolievich. Thank you Nikolay, thank you Pulkovo, thank you Boryspil, thank you Rossiya! I am very grateful to the professionalism of the staff and everyone involved in bringing my iPad home!

Yes, and I am very, very pleasantly surprised!.. :)