A BRITISH tourist was deported from her holiday spot because Ryanair wouldn’t let her retrieve her passport she had left on the plane.
Rebecca McCurry, 22, had just arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco when she realised her travel document was still on board.
Kennedy NewsRebecca McCurry claims she was made to wait 11 hours before being deported back to Manchester[/caption]
Kennedy NewsShe said she only got her passport back after a month of chasing the airline[/caption]
Kennedy NewsRebecca said she was so stressed ‘she passed out multiple times’[/caption]
When she noticed her mistake just “five minutes” after leaving the plane, she asked flight attendants if she could go back and recover it, she said.
The nanny, from Lochgilphead, Scotland, claimed Ryanair staff insisted they had done a full sweep of the aircraft and the passport wasn’t there.
According to Rebecca, however, it’s “impossible” their search was thorough as the document was later found exactly where she left it by passengers on a return flight.
The 22-year-old later underwent three hours of questioning by “intimidating” police officers.
She said cops “laughed” at her and told her she may have to wait five days for a deportation flight to Edinburgh – despite the plane she arrived in still sitting on the runway.
“They were not being nice. They were being intimidating, laughing at me. They kept calling me ‘little girl’,” she added.
The experience was so overwhelming, Rebecca, who suffers from chronic pain, said she suffered muscle-spasms and “passed out multiple times”.
She said: “I was having muscle spasms and passing out from the stress and pain. I passed out multiple times.
“Since I look able-bodied, I think maybe they didn’t believe me – or they didn’t care to believe.
“Honestly it was terrifying. I did not feel like a person at all. It was just insane.”
After 11 hours waiting in a restaurant inside the airport, Rebecca was eventually deported back to Manchester Airport.
The tourist claimed it took another month of chasing after the incident in July to finally get her passport back in August.
She said: “Everywhere you go to make a complaint takes you to a dead end.
“I’ve tried chatbots, emails, everything. I don’t know anyone who has successfully got through to Ryanair.
“If you have a bad experience with them, there’s absolutely nothing the customer can do.
“They’ve messed up a lot. There is a protocol – they are supposed to do a plane sweep.
“Overall, [the experience] has made me extremely anxious. And it has made me really scared about flying again.
Kennedy NewsShe was finally flown home after 11 hours[/caption]
Kennedy NewsRyanair said it hands over all lost property to the lost and found office at each airport[/caption]
“Recently I got on a plane for a trip, hoping to face my fear. But I was terrified – I kept thinking about being deported.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This passenger misplaced their passport onboard their flight from Edinburgh to Marrakesh on the 31 July and subsequently was denied entry into Marrakesh.
“As requested by Marrakesh authorities, Ryanair reaccommodated this passenger onto the next available flight to the UK later that day.
“All passengers travelling with Ryanair must present the correct travel documentation for the country of destination as determined by that country, however it is each passenger’s responsibility to carry valid travel documents.
“In this case the passenger was required to present a passport upon arrival at Marrakesh Airport which they failed to do, and they were correctly denied entry to the country.
“Ryanair hands over all lost property to the lost and found office at each airport. Once the crew located this passenger’s passport, this passenger’s passport was handed over to lost property at Edinburgh Airport.”
The Office National des Aéroports in Morocco were contacted for comment.
Kennedy NewsRebecca’s dad met her at the airport[/caption]