A Southwest pilot leaned out of his cockpit window to retrieve a passenger's lost cellphone after it was left behind at a departure gate

• The phone was found by Southwest Airlines staff, but the plane had left the gate.

• The flight's captain came up with an ingenious solution after workers at the airport called him.

• The pilot was able to get the phone out of the cockpit.

A pilot leaned out of his cockpit window to grab a passenger's phone that had been left at the departure gate.

The Southwest Airlines video shows the captain stretching out of the plane and three other employees trying to get to him.

The shortest member of staff can't get high enough before the taller one takes the phone from him and jumps to the pilot's hand.

The staff didn't hesitate after they noticed the lost phone in the gate area, even though the flight was already boarded and pushed back from the gate.

—Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) November 13, 2022

The passenger's phone was spotted by a customer on another flight, who then notified Southwest staff, but the plane had already left the gate.

The workers got in touch with the captain after they realized the flight was fully boarded. The captain suggested that the ramp agents jump the phone up to him so he could return it to the customer.

The rest was caught on camera.

Southwest said that the passenger who found the phone had been talking to the phone's owner so they knew which flight they were on.

The Long Beach Airport was the 10th busiest in California with 2.1 million passengers last year.

The location of Southwest's N8665D plane can't be determined because it's not known when the video was taken.

Outside of working hours, the airport couldn't be reached.

Business Insider has an article on it.