US airline United Express is investigating after an airline passenger woke up to find himself locked inside an empty, dark plane.
Passenger Tom Wagner boarded a flight at Louisiana to visit his sister in California and decided to have a nap while the plane stopped in Texas for a layover on Friday evening.
He was sitting in a window seat near the back of the aircraft and it is believed staff failed to spot him when the aircraft was emptied.
He told ABC13 Eyewitness News: "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."
He woke up in a cold and pitch-black cabin, and found the aircraft doors were locked.
He called his girlfriend, who alerted the airline, which operates ExpressJet.
ExpressJet issued a statement to Eyewitness News, saying: "An ExpressJet passenger remained on board flight 4245, operating as United Express from Lafayette, La. to Houston on Friday, December 6 after all passengers had deplaned.
"ExpressJet is investigating to determine how this occurred. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this caused for the passenger."
The airline said a post-flight walk-through was done, but the company couldn’t explain how staff missed Wagner.
Not surprisingly, he missed his connecting flight, but United Express ensured he reached his destination in California.
