Has Filed Suit Against UAL, Trans States Airlines

Imagine that you woke up following a flight to find that the airplane was empty, dark, locked, and parked for the night. That was exactly the situation in which 36-year-old Ginger McGuire found herself after a recent flight from Detroit to Philadelphia.

McGuire says she was booked on a flight that was supposed to arrived in Philly after a brief stop in DC. but her leg from DC to Philadelphia was delayed, and after leaving Detroit at 0600, she didn't arrive at her final destination until after midnight.

To make matters worse, she didn't know. She was asleep in the cabin, and reportedly didn't wake up as the other passengers deplaned.

CNN reports that when the cleaning crew found her about four hours later, they alerted TSA, and McGuire was "wrongfully detained and interrogated," according to her complaint.

McGuire has filed a lawsuit against United Airlines, as well as Trans States Airlines, which operated the flight as a code share. She is seeking between $25,000 and $75,000, alleging negligence, infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and breach of contract.

A Trans States spokesman said that the normal procedure calls for flight attendants to "do a sweep of the aircraft to ensure there are no passengers left on." Fred Oxley said the internal investigation would focus on whether that sweep was done. UAL said in a statement that it was "working with Trans States" on the investigation to "remedy the situation with the customer."

The lawsuit has been filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Michigan.

FMI: www.3rdcc.org, www.transstates.net, www.united.com