A family who almost missed their flight back home from Tenerife have thanked a TUI pilot who turned the plane around to pick up their daughter after she lost her passport. Adrian Insley said their dream holiday almost ended in a travel nightmare after his girl misplaced her passport somewhere in the airport.
The 38-year-old and his partner, their four children and Adrian's parents had arrived in plenty of time for their TUI flight back to East Midlands Airport, which was due to take off at roughly 10pm. After having a look round the Duty Free shop, the group headed over to the security check, Manchester Evening News reports.
The dad said: "I am very organised with my passport, I even have a bag for them. But this time my partner said she needs a passport to get something from Duty Free, and then she put the passport in the bag. Our flight was delayed and the airport was very busy because there were three flights to the UK".
Because he was travelling with his children, Mr Insley, an account manager from Ilkeston, had to go through the security check manually. However, it was not until he lined up for the security checks that he realised the Duty Free bag was nowhere to be found.
"I am starting to panic because I do not know where it is," he said. "And then the realisation set in there. We do not have a passport - we are missing one. I went and spoke to to the security personnel and they told me that I cannot board without a passport. So I had to send all my family through, and it is just me and my daughter that were left behind because of my daughter's missing passport.
"So it got a bit hairy because I did not know what to do. I have got to find somewhere to stay, I have got to find transport, and I have got to organise for a temporary passport - there is a lot of organising in a very short amount of time."
The dad and his "emotionally distressed" seven-year-old daughter were left behind watching the rest of the family going through the gate. He said: "My children were crying, my partner was crying. The reps on the other planes asked all the passengers to check their bags."
In an unexpected turn of events, the daughter's missing passport was eventually found - however, it was too late for them to go on the scheduled flight as their plane already left the gate. When he finally recovered the passport, he was told he could no longer get on the scheduled flight.
He said: "I had to go back in the airport area, which caused a bit of a problem with the security guards, who told me I could not leave past that point. There was a bit of a language barrier which was hair raising. I was happy to get the passport back at least, but that's when the situation got more interesting."
Meanwhile, Adrian's mum Shraron Insley, from Watnall, 60, boarded a plane with the rest of the family. She added: "I was impressed with the staff, who were so caring and tried to calm down the grandchildren who were crying. They said that Adrian could get on the next flight to Manchester if there is space, they were just so kind and understanding.
"They have gone to speak to the captain and ask about the logistics of it. At this point we were ready to take off, it was right before the runway. And then the steward asked if we could tell Adrian to come to the gate, so we could pick him up. I was gobsmacked because I have never ever in all my time flying, ever known that they can come back for you.
"They then apologised saying they would not be able to put Adrian's luggage back on. We said we do not care, it was amazing, just incredible. And then they managed to put his luggage back in anyway", Mrs Insley added. "We had an amazing holiday and everything was top notch, obviously just a bit of trauma.
"I have actually tried to thank TUI, but they have only got a portal for complaints. When all you hear about the travel industry is doom and gloom, we just wanted to share some exceptional customer service our family encountered over the bank holiday weekend."
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