Florida woman says Delta flight staff made her deplane when they landed to refuel. Then they took off and left her stranded: ‘a very vulnerable position’

Randi Hipper just found herself in a situation most travellers wouldn’t even expect. At a loss for what to do, she took to X with the hope of reaching Delta Airlines. In her post, she alleged, “I’m stranded at a closed airport. After flying 20 hours in a row, I was diverted to Fort Myers because the plane ran out of gas. The flight attendant then told the flight to go to baggage claim. Now the plane is taking off without me and with my bags. I have no hotel and nowhere to go. How can you do this??”

The 23-year-old financial advisor also added a video and responded to questions in the comments, providing more detail. She stated that she had first flown from Hong Kong to Los Angeles and was then on a flight to Tampa. However, per her post and View from the Wing, the Airbus A321neo was forced to divert to Southwest Florida International Airport when it began to run low on fuel. 

Hipper, who was seated in first class, stated that after landing at 7:09 PM, the flight crew gave instructions that led to the confusion. She claimed that a flight attendant explicitly told passengers to head to baggage claim and retrieve their belongings at carousel 7. Thus, Hipper and several other passengers left the aircraft and exited the secure area of the airport. This turned out to be a massive mistake. 

Stuck on the other side

As it was late in the evening, the TSA checkpoint for the airport had already closed for the night. This meant there was no way for the passengers to get back to their gate. While Hipper was waiting at baggage claim, she realized that no one else from the flight seemed to be coming out. She soon discovered that the plane was being prepared to continue its journey to Tampa. 

In the comments, she later shared, “Almost 1 million views and no response from @Delta. However, a family that was also stranded drove another passenger and I down to Tampa late last night. Grateful for them. A night I’ll never forget!” Despite that, the situation left her in what she described to PEOPLE as “a very vulnerable position.” 

She told the outlet, “I felt like I was unsafe, and especially if I didn’t have that family to basically adopt me and rescue me and bring me back to Tampa, I would have been alone.” Fortunately, she and other stranded passengers managed to arrange their own carpools. 

Her carpool was courtesy of a passenger’s husband, who drove from Sarasota to Fort Myers to pick them up. He eventually drove them to Tampa to collect their luggage, which had stayed on the plane the entire time. Interestingly, an American Airlines flight also faced a diversion and severe delays recently after running out of fuel because of weather.

X was pretty shocked by the incident. One user wrote, “Wow!!! That’s unacceptable – Delta do better!” Another user commented, “Delta must pay,” while a third added, “Ughhh. I’m so sorry. That is absolutely miserable.” Some users attempted to suggest that Hipper might have misunderstood the crew, but she stood by her account. It should be noted that Delta Air Lines has since acknowledged the error.

In a statement provided to View from the Wing, a Delta spokesperson said, “Due to a communication error on our part, several customers on Delta Flight 749 left the gate area and proceeded to baggage claim. Unfortunately, because of the late hour, they were unable to clear TSA security and return to the flight. We sincerely apologize for our mistake and for the disruption to our customers’ travel plans. Our customer care team will be reaching out directly to those affected.”

PEOPLE reported that the airline further clarified that the flight was on the ground for about an hour and 20 minutes to refuel and wait for clearance to head to Tampa. While the airline noted that some customers chose to seek their own transportation, they admitted that others were given incorrect information regarding the need to collect checked baggage. 

According to View from the Wing, airlines aren’t required to provide a hotel or compensation for delays or diversions caused by weather, even if they disrupt connecting flights. The Department of Transportation also cautions passengers against leaving flights voluntarily, as the airlines aren’t required to let you back on. However, considering the passengers were instructed to leave the secure area makes this a unique case.

In this case, View from the Wing argued that the immediate disruption wasn’t the weather. So, the airline can no longer argue that they aren’t culpable. It will just have to be seen how the airline handles the promised follow-up from their customer care team.