Woman Fell Asleep During Flight, Says She Woke Up In Pitch Dark On Locked Plane

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It’s the plane fear I didn’t even know I had until now, but here we are.

A woman by the name of Tiffani Adams fell asleep during her flight from Quebec to Toronto, only to wake up alone in the pitch blackness.

The Air Canada plane had been parked up and locked for the night, with a terrified Tiffani stuck inside all by herself. At first she believed she was having a bad dream, but then the reality of her situation hit.

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The incident happened on June 9, with Tiffani falling asleep at around the half way point of the 90-minute flight.

She had reportedly been flying home after ‘one of the best weekends’ she’d ever had with a friend in Quebec.

Tiffani’s friend ‎Deanna Noel-Dale‎ posted the story on her behalf on the Air Canada Facebook page:

Honestly it’s been really difficult week and half for me and I’m asking for help… I would really like to find out if anyone had been through this too bc 10 days later and I am still a wreck… not handling my emotions very well and welcome coping advice or techniques to calm my nerves.

[…] I fell asleep probably less than halfway through my short 1.5 hour flight.. 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) as someone with and anxiety disorder as is I can tell you how terrifying this was..

A panicked Tiffani managed to FaceTime Deanna, however her mobile phone died just one minute into the call. Attempts to charge the phone were thwarted, with the power supply having been turned off for the night.

The Facebook post continued, with Tiffani detailing her struggle to escape the parked plane:

I’m trying to focus on my breathing and control my panic attack while I attempt to charge my phone by plugging into every USB port I could find..

No luck bc when they shut the aircraft down there is no power whatsoever I now have to use washroom and that’s also no picnic when you can’t see a thing and are tryin to keep yourself calm..since I can’t charge my phone to call for help I’m full on panicking bc I want off this nightmare asap

I found the walky talky thingys in the cockpit but they also don’t work I can’t radio for help.

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Tiffani was ‘overjoyed’ after coming across a flashlight in the cockpit, and tried to make ‘flashy sos signals’ out of the windows in the hopes of being spotted.

With her new found light source, Tiffani endeavoured to open the main door. She managed this successfully, only to be faced with a sickening ’40-50ft drop to the pavement below’.

According to Tiffani:

I hang out the door trying to get the attention of ground crew I can see Pearson’s lights but too far away I’m where the aircrafts park overnight there is no one around..

I search frantically for a rope so I can climb down to safely (flight attendants seat is right by door I opened but the seatbelt is too short to hang from so back to my distress signals now I’m hanging out the door reflecting the flashlight off the side of the plane (figuring reflective exterior will catch someone’s attention in the distance) not sure how much time has passed bc no phone no nothing.

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Fortunately, Tiffani managed to grab the attention of a person driving a luggage cart, who was able to help her to safety using a ladder dock.

However, she has understandably been left ‘anxious and afraid’ following this incident and wants to know if anybody else has gone through a similar nightmare:

I haven’t got much sleep since the reoccurring night terrors and waking up anxious and afraid I’m alone locked up someplace dark..this is a super long post-so I’ll wrap it up please share if you know of anyone who has gone through this I don’t like feeling so alone

As reported by NPR, Air Canada have confirmed Tiffani’s account is true, stating they ‘remain in contact with her’.

UNILAD has reached out to Air Canada for comment.

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.