Photo: Getty
I just want to know where she got her headphones honestly.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on Jun 25, 2019
Lots of people are afraid of flying. It's hard to blame those folks with a phobia of it. After all, you're being shunted across the planet in midair sitting inside of a metal tube. The fact that airplanes even work to begin with is something of a miracle. The fact that planes fall out of the sky isn't exactly reassuring either.
But there are other reasons to be afraid of flying, and they might not be ones that you've ever thought of before. Tiffani O'Brien experienced this first hand when her flight home from a quick weekend romp turned into an utter nightmare. Read on to find out what happened to her on the flight and what Air Canada is doing to make sure that it never happens again. Who is Tiffani O'Brien?
1. What Happened?
Flying home to Toronto from Quebec City after a quick weekend jaunt, the last thing Tiffani O'Brien expected wound up happening to her. After boarding the plane, she quickly buckled up and fell asleep hoping to catch a nap during the hour and a half flight. And sleep she did. In fact, she slept so well that when she woke up, it was several hours later.
Tiffani discovered to her abject horror that she was STILL on the plane! What's worse, she was totally alone, the plane was freezing cold and plunged into pitch blackness. She recounted her experience in a Facebook post that was shared on her behalf by a good friend. Tiffani did eventually manage to get help, but it begs the question, how could something like this happen in the first place?
2. Her Own Words
“I got super comfy reading my book, happy I scored my row all to myself (flight was about 1/4 full). I fell asleep probably less than halfway through my short 1.5 hour flight," shared Tiffani in the extended comment that she had posted on Air Canada's Facebook page courtesy of her friend Deanna Noel-Dale. Why she didn't post it herself is a valid question, perhaps she doesn't have an account?
That's all beside the point, because Tiffani's night didn't end there. "I wake up around midnight (few hours after flight landed) freezing cold still strapped in my seat in complete darkness (I’m talking pitch black),”shared Tiffani talking about waking up totally alone in the plane. If this wasn't a fear of yours before — it certainly is now.
3. Air Canda Speaks
It's not surprising to learn that this kind of post on a public social media profile started picking up steam pretty darn quickly. People couldn't fathom how something like this could happen. Everyone was waiting to hear how the airline would explain itself and Tiffani wondered more than them all. “When my seat [is] an inch back or my tray down flight crew take notice but yet you missed a person still strapped into her seat and all go on home?!?!" She wrote.
Right now, the airline doesn't have much to say, at least publicly, about the matter at hand. People magazine reached out to them for comment and received a very terse response about how they are “still reviewing this matter and have no additional details to share, but we have followed up with the customer and remain in contact with her.” Clearly there's still some investigating to be done.
4. Anxiety
Finding yourself alone in a dark and cold plane with no way of getting out isn't a situation that many of us would relish being in. But the situation was worse for Tiffani than it might be for other people. That's because Tiffani, like me and like probably a bunch of other people you know, suffers from an anxiety disorder. She said that when she woke up, she immediately tried to call a friend for help but her phone's battery was low and died.
“I can tell you how terrifying this was. I’m trying to focus on my breathing and control my panic attack while I attempt to charge my phone by plugging it into every USB port I could find,” she wrote. “No luck bc when they shut the aircraft down there is no power whatsoever. I’m full on panicking bc I want off this nightmare asap.”
5. Fallout
As of Monday the 24th of June, the post Tiffani shared on Facebook had more than 800 responses. It's clear that her harrowing story affected others, though clearly not as intensely as it affected Tiffani herself, who says now, 10 days after the incident, she is still plagued with sleepless nights, and when she does manage to sleep she has nightmares.
If Air Canada is worried about Tiffani taking legal action, they should be. People have sued for less and come away with a tidy profit. Until she makes up her mind, keeping their heads down and doing their best to make things right with her is exactly the right choice. Here's hoping that when they do take decisive action it involves firing the people involved with this grave blunder.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.