A woman flying on Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Jacksonville, Florida, found herself stranded in another country without a passport. Beverly Ellis-Hebard told WABC that she arrived at her gate, which was labeled PHL to JAX, and checked in with the gate agent.
She asked if she had time to use the restroom and was told the flight wasn't going to board for about 20 minutes. After using the bathroom, Ellis-Hebard saw the flight was almost fully boarded and rushed over to get on the plane.
"[The gate agent] 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.'"
After the plane was in the air, one of the flight attendants approached Ellis-Hebard and told her she was on the wrong flight. They told her there was a gate change and that instead of going to Jacksonville, the plane was actually going to Jamaica.
"I laughed. I said, 'I would love to be going there, but I have a beach where I live,'" said Ellis-Hebard. "She said, 'Look at me. This plane is going to Jamaica.' And I knew by the look on her face she wasn't joking."
Unfortunately, Ellis-Hebard didn't bring her passport because she wasn't planning to leave the country.
Once the plane landed, authorities in Jamaica allowed Ellis-Hebard to stay on the jetway, which is still considered American soil. The flight crew stayed with her for several hours and ensured she was on the next flight back to Philadelphia.
"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," Frontier said in a statement to the news station. "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."