Passengers waiting to board with "hand-luggage"

When traveling I would say the majority of passengers are security conscious and ensure that any hold cases are securely locked before being checked in. There have been reports of items going missing out of checked in luggage and so we are generally advised to carry valuables with us in our hand luggage.

However, with so many expensive electronic items such as iPads and digital cameras being taken away these days, your hand luggage becomes a high value piece of kit. There are notices up at all airports warning you to be vigilant and not leave any piece of luggage unattended etc but its on the actual flight that you really need to observant!

Totally crammed overhead locker

With the extortionate cost of checking in luggage, more and more are traveling with hand luggage only.  This creates a problem in itself, as there is physically not enough room in the overhead lockers for every passengers bag. Those that are lucky enough to board first stow their pieces in the lockers directly above them, but as these fill up quickly you are left wandering up and down the aisle looking for a space - often well away from your seat. It will not be secured as you were expecting it to be with you at all times - and this is where you may experience a problem.

I would like to draw your attention to an attempted robbery on a flight witnessed by a retired police officer. Shortly before landing he thought that he noticed his bag being replaced in the overhead locker,  but wasn´t sure and decided that it was probably a fellow passenger moving it to access his own bag. Upon landing something told him to check his bag to make sure nothing suspicious had occurred - his bag was NOT directly above him, and when he examined it he noticed all his wife´s jewellery and some cash had gone missing. They quickly shouted for assistance from the crew and managed to block the exits before any more passengers had managed to disembark.

The victim then pleaded with the remaining passengers to check their own bags at which point three fellow travelers reported that they had also been robbed. He vaguely remembered seeing a passenger wearing a white baseball cap and it turned out to be someone standing directly in front of him, who once identified proceeded to offload money, jewellery, camera and electronic equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Sleeping passengers - unfortunately easy victims!

The criminals often sit at the back of the plane observing where where bags are behind or away from the passengers and systematically pull them from the lockers while the passengers are resting, reading or drinking and take them into the toilets and steal any valuable contents. No-one takes any notice that anything is wrong.... I, probably like many of you, naively never thought that they would actually operate ON the plane itself so here are some tips:

1. Hand luggage should ALWAYS be locked.
2. Do not assume hand luggage under your seat is safe either - a passenger had her purse stolen by a guy next to her whilst she slept.
3. Don´t assume that everyone on the plane is a law abiding citizen like yourself.
4. If in doubt, wear or keep valuables ON you.