Man Was Left Sleeping In His Seat While Airplane Was Parked For The Night

A passenger on an ExpressJet flight flying on a codeshare operated by United Express from Lafayette, LA to Houston, TX Friday decided the flight was the perfect time to catch up on a little sleep, and closed his eyes for a nap. But when he woke up, he found himself locked inside the airplane with the lights off and nobody else on board.

Passenger Tom Wagner was supposed to fly on to California, but the flight had a layover in Houston. He had somehow been overlooked as he slept in his seat while the plane was parked for the night.

Television station KTRK reports that Wagner called his girlfriend, who at first thought he was joking when he said he was sitting alone on a parked airplane. It reportedly took about half an hour for him to be found and let off the plane.

In a statement to the station, ExpressJet said that "[a] passenger remained on board flight 4245, operating as United Express from Lafayette, La. to Houston on Friday, Dec. 6, after all (other) passengers had deplaned. ExpressJet is investigating to determine how this occurred. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused for the passenger.”

He missed his connection, but the airline rebooked him on a later flight, provided him with a hotel room, and gave him a $250 voucher on a future United flight for the incident.

FMI: www.expressjet.com