A passenger who jumped onto the Tube track to recover what appeared to be a dropped AirPod earphone has been condemned for risking their life and causing widespread disruption to other travellers.
Tube bosses had to halt all nearby services to enable CCTV footage to be checked to establish whether the passenger - who appeared to be one of a group of four friends - had been trapped under a District line train.
This meant that thousands of customers were stuck on trains stranded in tunnels – and meant that the Tube driver involved suffered the “emotional toll” of not knowing whether there was someone under their train.
The incident happened last Friday afternoon at Earl’s Court station at one of the District line platforms.
A TfL spokesman said: “As a train was departing the platform, the train operator saw on their CCTV monitors a person access the track. They stopped their train immediately but had lost sight of the person and were concerned they may be under their train.
“The station started to prepare to close in response to a potential person under train.”
An Underground operations manager then quickly reviewed the CCTV images from the station. These showed a group looking over the edge of the platform as the train pulled out of the station. One person jumped onto the track “to pick up what looked like an AirPod”.
TfL added: “They were then pulled back onto the platform by one of their friends.”
The group were seen walking to platform two, enabling the order to be given that trains could safely start running again as staff were not dealing with a “person under train” incident. This averted the need to close the station.
In a post on social media describing the incident, Hama Patel, senior operating officer at London Underground, said: “An AirPod Isn’t Worth a Life.”
She said: “This afternoon, we had to hold all services for 12 minutes while we reviewed CCTV to make sure someone was clear of the track.
“Hundreds of customers were stuck on trains, many just outside platforms, waiting in discomfort and uncertainty. The reason? Someone had jumped down onto the track to retrieve a dropped AirPod.
“We understand the frustration of losing something valuable—but no item is worth risking your life for.
“The track environment is not safe. Our rails carry live electricity powerful enough to kill. Even if you avoid the current, the possibility of being struck by a train, slipping, or becoming disoriented is dangerously high.
“And while the risk to the person on the track is the most immediate concern, the impact of their actions ripples far beyond them.
“Train operators suffer deeply in these moments. The emotional toll of thinking someone may be under your train—of living with that possibility until confirmed otherwise—is something few outside the industry can fully grasp. And every incident like this leaves a mark.
“Customers on delayed trains are affected too—mothers trying to get home for their children, workers rushing to their shifts, carers, visitors, the elderly. One person’s decision to take matters into their own hands disrupted the lives of hundreds.”
TfL station staff are able to use long poles with “hooks and grabbers” – known as a track retrieval device - to safety recover items dropped onto the track.
It includes different attachments for retrieving everything from mobile phones and small electronic devices like AirPods to dropped shoes.
In some cases, passengers will have to wait until the next day to recover their possessions, if access to the track is only possible during “engineering hours” overnight, when there are no trains and the power is switched off.
AirPods cost from around £100 to £230, depending on the model.
Ms Patel added: “We can retrieve lost items—but we will only do so when it is safe, and in a way that minimises disruption to all.
“No possession is worth more than your life. Your safety will always be our priority—but it must be yours too.
“Please, if you drop something on the track: don’t go after it. Let us help. The value of your life is far greater than anything you might leave behind.”
Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, said Ms Patel’s post, on her LinkedIn page, was “incredibly well said” and added: “Safety will always be our first priority.”
Ian Prosser, a former chief inspector of railways, said Ms Patel’s comments were “spot on”.
Anurag Gupta, a TfL board member, said: “As you rightly point out, there are Transport for London colleagues at hand to help, rather than someone risking their own life in this way.”
