Passenger with dementia forgotten on-board Southwest flight

A WOMAN boarded a plane for a short trip, but when it landed and everyone left, she remained in her seat. Nobody realised.
So she continued on with another load of passengers to a destination she never intended on visiting, flying a total of 14 hours instead of four.
Because 82-year-old Dolores Runnels has dementia, she just stayed on the plane. She was meant to fly from Dallas to Houston then to Greenville, US.
Instead, she ended up on the other side of the country, going from Dallas to Houston to Greenville to Baltimore to Chicago and then back to Greenville.
All the while her baffled daughter Melody Allega was waiting at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.
“I get to baggage claim. Her bags are there, but there is no mother,” Ms Allega told WYFF4.com.
Nobody seemed to know what had happened to her mum.
“I just kept thinking about how scared she would be to show up somewhere and not realise where she was or how she got there or how to get home.”
Finally, it became disturbingly clear what had happened — she hadn’t been escorted off the plane by Southwest staff.
That’s despite Runnel’s family contacting the airline prior to the flight.
Her son had even received an email response from Southwest confirming they acknowledged Ms Runnels had dementia and outlining a plan to get her safely to Greenville.
“Who counted that plane? That’s not just an old person that needs help or a person with dementia that needs help, that’s national security biting the dust,” he said.
Allegra said her mum was left “hungry and confused” and she wanted the airline to apologise.
Southwest Airlines spokesman Dan Landson told WYFF4.com: “A passenger travelling alone on Flight 486 from Houston Hobby to Greenville-Spartanburg arrived at her intended destination but did not get off the aircraft and travelled on with other passengers to Baltimore/Washington.
“Upon her arrival at BWI and after learning of the situation with this customer, our airport employees did what they do best — they jumped into action, bought her food, and diligently worked on flight arrangements to get her back Greenville-Spartanburg that day.
“At Southwest, we consider each customer an extended part of our family. We’ll complete an internal review of what happened.”
News.com.au