A woman bought a Frontier Airlines ticket from Philadelphia to Jacksonville, Florida but ended up on the island of Jamaica instead. And she didn't even have her passport.
Beverly Ellis-Hebard, who flies between the two U.S. cities every six weeks, didn't realize she was on the wrong flight until the plane was airborne. A flight attendant came to Ellis-Hebard's seat to help treat her arm, which she had badly scraped while taking her suitcase out of the baggage sizer back at the airport, and told the passenger she'd be able to relax once she got to Jamaica.
"I laughed. I said 'I would love to be going there but I have a beach where I live,'" Ellis-Hebarb said. "She said, 'Look at me. This plane is going to Jamaica.' And I knew by the look on her face she wasn't joking."
Turns out there had been a gate change while Ellis-Hebarb was in the bathroom, and when she came back to what she thought was still her gate, passengers had already boarded a flight to Jamaica. Worried the jetway door would close and she would miss her flight, she rushed over to the airline agent, who helped rush her onto the plane. Somehow, checking her passport was overlooked.
From ABC News:
"She 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?' I said, 'You just had my boarding pass. You just checked me in. Yes!' She said, 'All right, go! Go.'"
Once in flight, her reality set in.
The flight crew told Ellis-Hebard the flight to Jacksonville had a gate change, and she was now heading to the Caribbean.
She was also told, "You're entering a different country without a passport. That's bad."
Ultimately, Jamaican authorities allowed Ellis-Hebard to remain in the jetway, which she was told is considered U.S. soil.
The flight crew remained with her until the next flight to Philadelphia took off several hours later.
Ellis-Hebarb said the airline never apologized for the mishap, which happened last November, but after ABC News confronted Frontier, the airline issued this statement:
"We extend our utmost apologies to Beverly Ellis-Hebard for this unfortunate experience. We sincerely regret that Ms. Ellis-Hebard was able to board the wrong flight.
As a gesture of our apology, we have issued a $600 Frontier Airlines flight voucher tied to the name Beverly Ellis-Hebard that is valid for one year."
