US Airline accidentally flies woman with no passport to international location
The incident happened due to an unintended gate change by the woman
Florida: A Frontier flight accidentally flew a New Jersey-based woman, who did not have a passport, to Jamaica instead of Jacksonville, reported New York Post.
The incident happened due to an unintended gate change by the woman.
Beverly Ellis-Hebard, a resident of Gloucester County, said she regularly flies to Philadelphia to her second home in Jacksonville.
She reached a gate for her November 6 flight that read "PHL to JAX."
She said, "I fly once every six weeks. I picked Frontier flights because we flew so often."
Ellis-Hebard asked a gate agent if she could go to the restroom. However, upon returning she found the flight was almost fully boarded and she was rushed onto the plane, according to New York Post.
"[The gate agent] said, "Come on, come on. Give me your boarding pass.' I would say I took about ten steps, and she said, 'Are you Beverly Ellis-Hebard?"' the New Jersey resident explained. "I said, 'You just had my boarding pass. You just checked me in. Yes!' She said, 'All right, go! Go,'" reported the New York Post.
The flight crew told Ellis-Hebard that the Jacksonville flight had a gate change and that their plane was en route to Jamaica, once she was on the plane.
Ellis-Hebard said, "I laughed. I said 'I would love to be going there but I have a beach where I live,'" adding "[The flight attendant] said, 'Look at me. This plane is going to Jamaica.' And I knew by the look on her face she wasn't joking."Ellis-Hebard was unable to exit the aircraft after landing because she did not have a passport", the New York Post reported.
She stayed on the jetway, which, in her opinion, is US territory.
The flight crew waited with her until several hours later, when her aircraft to Philadelphia took off.
The aeroplane incident, according to Ellis-Hebard, was not the only catastrophe she encountered while travelling, as per New York Post.
She scratched her arm as she placed her own travel bag in the luggage sizer.
She said, "I put it in and when I went to take it out my arm right here got all scraped up. I was bleeding."
A Frontier Airlines spokesperson said, "We sincerely regret that the customer was able to board the wrong flight and have extended our apologies," adding, "We have provided her with a refund and compensation as well as addressed the matter with airport personnel", the New York Post reported.