WE’VE ALL FALLEN asleep on public transport at some stage in our lives. Luckily, the worst that could happen is going too far on the train or bus and getting kicked off at the last stop, miles from home. A nap on the plane though, what harm can come of that?
Well, tell that to Tom Wagner, who woke up alone on a dark, freezing cold, locked plane after a nice little relaxing nap on board his United Express flight last Friday. No one disembarking thought to wake him up once he had reached his destination, even the flight staff.
Wagner was flying Louisiana to Texas, and initially thought he was dreaming or that the plane was on a layover.
Speaking to KTRK, he said:
I woke up and the lights were out. I was like, what’s going on? I thought maybe it was a layover, still on the same plane.
Seeing that he was alone on the plane and the doors were locked, Wagner called his girlfriend for help, despite the fact that he knew he sounded crazy. Airline staff arrived a half hour later.
I said, ‘Don’t put the blame on me. I didn’t do anything wrong here.’ And then they were, like, try to hush-hush, keep it quiet. And they gave me this little package here in a motel room.
The airline didn’t refund Wagner’s ticket but gave him a €250 voucher and a hotel room as he missed his connecting flight due to the incident. But he’s still not impressed with the treatment and error.
What if I had a medical condition or something? What if I had a heart attack and I was dead? You just shut the plane and leave someone on there?
United Express says that they are currently investigating the incident to determine how it occurred, as the standard post-flight walk-through was done but Wagner was missed.
via Buzzfeed
