A Canadian woman taking a short flight home should have had an easy trip. But now, she’s speaking out after what should have been a “short 1.5 hour flight” turned into a nightmare.
Tiffani O’Brien boarded an Air Canada flight over the weekend to travel from Quebec to her home in Toronto, she explained in a Facebook post shared by a friend.
She said the flight was only about a quarter of the way full, so she got a whole row to herself and quickly fell asleep.
Only O’Brien didn’t wake up until around midnight — hours after the flight had already landed. She said in the post:
I wake up around midnight (few hours after flight landed) freezing cold still strapped in my seat in complete darkness (I’m talking pitch black) as someone with and anxiety disorder as is I can tell you how terrifying this was.
She quickly texted her friend, Deanna Noel-Dale, who had been waiting to hear that she landed safely.
O’Brien told her friend that she was left alone on the plane but didn’t have time to explain before her phone battery died.
Noel-Dale still contacted the airport to let them know her friend was aboard the plane, she told Inside Edition.
Meanwhile, O’Brien was trying to find a way to get out of the aircraft. She wrote:
I found the walky talky thingys in the cockpit but they also don’t work I can’t radio for help… I was so overjoyed when I found a flashlight in the cockpit and I’m making some flashy sos signals out the windows hoping someone sees me.
When she was unable to call for help from inside the plane, O’Brien opened the plane door and tried to find a way to get down. She said it was a “40-50ft drop to the pavement below.”
O’Brien was trying to find a makeshift rope when she spotted an airport employee. She said:
When I see the luggage cart driving towards me I am literally dangling my legs out of the plane..he is in shock asking how the heck they left me on the plane..I’m wondering the same (when my seat an inch back or my tray down flight crew take notice but yet you missed a person still strapped into her seat and just all go on home?!?!
Sharing for my friend Tiffani AdamsAnother sleepless night for moi unfortunately insomnia doesn’t care that I work in…
Posted by Deanna Noel-Dale on Wednesday, June 19, 2019
She was allegedly taken to an Air Canada rep who she said offered her a “limo and hotel,” which she turned down.
O’Brien said she was also later contacted by the airline earlier this week and was told that it is conducting an investigation. She says the airline apologized for the incident.
Air Canada confirmed to the Associated Press that the O’Brien was actually left behind on the plane. It said in a statement:
We are still reviewing this matter so we have no additional details to share, but we have followed up with the customer and remain in contact with her.
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
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