Most individuals don’t bring their passports with them when flying domestically, but one traveler discovered that could be a mistake.
In a video posted by @ItalianKate on TikTok, she filmed one other passenger (@griptape_ on TikTok) as he explained how their flight from Puerto Rico to Miami ended up with them stranded in an airplane terminal.
He explained within the video with 1.5 million likes and eight.2 million views that they were on American Airlines flight 2421 and were circling around for 2 hours before the pilot announced they needed to land within the Bahamas, where the passengers would disembark.
“Puerto Rico to the US is a domestic flight,” the person explained. “That is a unique country.”
He added, “We landed at 8:30, it’s now 5:40 within the morning.”
Because they were on a domestic flight, when the pilot asked who had their passports, nobody had them — meaning they couldn’t leave the terminal, let alone the airport, because they legally couldn’t undergo customs.
The speaker explained that almost all people on the flight only spoke Spanish, so he needed to translate the data from the gate agents over the speaker.
Elderly people and dogs were amongst those stuck on the terminal, and through the seven hours they were there, they only had Biscoff Cookies as their source of food.
He explained that they were only in a position to speak to the 2 gate agents who were sharing as much as they may, but American Airlines wouldn’t give any information.
“Now persons are having medical emergencies and things like that, we now have medication on the plane… They told a gentleman here that he can’t go in and get it,” the person said.
“We now have one bathroom for 100 people, dogs, children,” he continued. “Hopefully, we get a refund at the top of this.”
The typical time for a flight between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami, Florida is about 2.5 hours, and by the point the TikTok was filmed, about nine hours had passed since they departed from Puerto Rico.
Based on American Airlines, the passengers were put on this rare situation as a result of the weather.
“On August 3, American Airlines flight 2421 with service from Puerto Rico (SJU) to Miami (MIA) was impacted by severe weather and diverted to Nassau (NAS),” an American Airlines representative told Thrillist.
“The flight continued on to MIA once the weather conditions allowed us to soundly achieve this. Operating safely is at all times our priority — especially in dynamic weather events — and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience experienced in consequence of the weather.”
Nevertheless, the airline didn’t say whether or not the passengers on the flight were compensated for his or her troubles and time within the Bahamas.
Moral of the story: It could never hurt to bring your passport even on domestic flights, especially when flying to areas known for storms or hurricanes.
“One in all the advantages of traveling between the US and Puerto Rico is the very fact that you may travel passport-less,” Going’s travel expert Katy Nastro told the outlet.
“There’s no saying you possibly can’t use your passport as a type of ID, so if it gives you a bit more peace (of travel) mind, then go for it.”
