When it comes to the situations that can occur 36,000 feet in the air, sometimes fact truly is stranger than fiction.
Last week, 24-year-old TikToker Erin Wright started going viral for a colorful description of an incident that occurred to her on an American Airlines (AAL) flight from New Mexico to New Orleans for her sister's bachelorette party back in June.
According to the passenger, a flight attendant came up to her and informed her that she was permanently banned from flying with the airline over "having sexual relations with a man on a flight while intoxicated" despite the fact that she had no idea of what security was referring to.
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According to Wright's account, she was having trouble checking into her flight and was sent to multiple agents and airline representatives after coming up to the counter and asking to be checked in manually.
'You've actually been banned from flying with American Airlines'
"The lady looks nervous and she's like, 'ma'am, I'm really sorry to tell you this but you've actually been banned from flying with American Airlines," Wright described to her 78,000 followers. "She [said it was] an issue of internal insecurity but the person on the phone told you that you should know why."
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"I finally get an email from corporate security telling me that I have been banned because I was having sexual relations with a man on a flight while intoxicated," Wright described further. "Well, Iet me tell you that I am a 24-year-old lesbian. Am I having sexual relations with any man? No."
The video received more than three million views and nearly 13,000 comments expressing disbelief at the absurdity of being made to prove that you're somebody you're not. She even had to enlist the help of her mother who sent an email vouching that her daughter was really a lesbian. Wright was never informed of who the person who did try to join the mile-high club was or why she was confused for her (in the past, similar incidents occurred when someone shared the same name with an offender.)
@erin_wright_ Thanks for being the worst @American Airlines #storytime #funnystory #funnyvideos #airlinetiktok #airplanestory #funny #fyp
♬ original sound - Erin Wright
'They still haven't reached out to me to make things right on their end'
After more than half a day of back-and-forth with different representatives of American Airlines and airport security, American Airlines eventually helped Wright clear her name and get her removed from the no fly list but she was still out over $1,000 after booking a last-minute ticket when trying to figure out which flight she would be able to board.
In a follow-up TikTok on the incident, Wright said that the video going viral helped her earn $1,000 through the channel's monetization but American Airlines still hadn't responded to her requests for compensation for the lost money and inconvenience of being stuck at the airport.
"As far as the update with American Airlines goes, they still haven't reached out to me or commented on the video to make things right on their end but I am hoping that they still will," Wright said. "I'm looking in to a lot of the things that you all recommended like reaching out to the Department of Transportation to file a complaint or suing them in small claims court."
TheStreet also hasn't been able to reach American Airlines for comment on the situation.
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