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Baggage piles up at Lambert Terminal 2 as Southwest flight issues continue

Southwest Airlines is now facing a federal investigation after holiday flight disruptions.

ST. LOUIS — Hundred of pieces of luggage were visible Wednesday morning on and around the luggage carousels of St. Louis Lambert International Airport's Terminal 2 as mass Southwest Airlines cancellations continued.

Southwest canceled thousands more flights Wednesday and Thursday.

According to FlightAware, 64% of Southwest's flights were canceled Wednesday morning, whereas Alaska, American, United and Delta all had cancellation rates under 10%.

Southwest's troubles started last week with the winter storm and continued Tuesday with thousands of cancellations.

The left-behind luggage at Lambert airport got separated from its owners at some point over the past few days. While the luggage was being guarded by security personnel, passengers could be seen periodically crossing the barricade, finding their bags and finally making their way home or onto their next destination without any sort of verification process.

WATCH: What to do if your Southwest flight is canceled or delayed

Southwest Airlines is now facing investigations in Washington, D.C., because of the massive flight disruptions. A powerful Senate panel announced plans Tuesday to investigate the situation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Southwest CEO Bob Jordan communicated, with Buttigieg saying the Transportation department would "take action to hold Southwest accountable."

Passenger Angie Miranda got stuck in St. Louis on Christmas Eve while on her way back to Omaha from Florida. She chose to drive home instead of taking her chances with additional flights. However, her bags never caught up with her, so she made the six-hour drive back to St. Louis to retrieve her luggage Tuesday night.

“Our baggage has been delayed since Christmas and was supposed to arrive on Dec. 27," she said.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, Miranda still didn't have all of her luggage.

“I have three out of the seven bags," she said.

President Biden and the U.S. Department of Transportation said they were launching an investigation into whether Southwest Airlines is complying with its customer service plan.

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