More details emerge about Chrissy Teigen's 8-hour 'flight to nowhere'
WATCH Model Chrissy Teigen live tweets from bizarre 8-hour 'flight to nowhere'
More details are beginning to emerge in the 8-hour "flight to nowhere" that model Chrissy Teigen live-tweeted Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
Teigen sent out a flurry of tweets after her plane made an abrupt U-turn on its way to Japan because of a passenger.
A U.S. government official with knowledge of the situation told ABC News that two brothers went through security at Los Angeles International Airport with proper boarding passes, but were booked on separate flights to Tokyo. One had a ticket on Teigen's All Nippon Airways flight and the other was on a United plane.
The brothers were able to board the ANA flight together. The machine that scans tickets before boarding failed to detect the United boarding pass. It's unclear how the brother with a United ticket found a seat on the plane.
Roughly four hours into the flight, the flight crew became aware of the situation and the airline decided to turn around and head back to Los Angeles. The flight landed, the brothers were interviewed by authorities and let go. There is no indication anyone was in danger.
Teigen's documented saga started Tuesday night at around 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time when she tweeted about the U-turn her flight made and questioned why everyone on the plane had to suffer for one person.
“A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane,” Teigen tweeted. “Why…why do we all gotta go back, I do not know.”
a flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane. Why…why do we all gotta go back, I do not know
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
“After all this, I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere,” she wrote in a subsequent tweet.
Breaking pic.twitter.com/8WPEFZ4sh4
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
pic.twitter.com/7FYh61c4M8
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
By the end of the night, the model, who has more 9.2 million followers on Twitter, had sent more than two dozen tweets about the travel nightmare and racked up hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets.
Teigen, 32, who was traveling with her husband, R&B superstar John Legend, said the plane was forced to turn around because the passenger had somehow boarded the ANA plane with a ticket from another airline.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic via Getty ImagesTeigen's comments mirror the new information on Wednesday morning.
“They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA,” she tweeted. “So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere.”
They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
“I won’t be able to sleep until I know how this person figured out they were on the wrong flight. That’s all I ask. 150 people have been majorly inconvenienced, please, just tell me,” Teigen wrote in another tweet.
The model said she spent a total of eight hours and 20 minutes in the air, only to end up back at LAX.
"During the flight, the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot," the airline said in a statement. "As part of the airline’s security procedure, the pilot in command decided to return to the originating airport, where the passenger was disembarked."
"ANA is researching the situation currently to determine how the passenger boarded the flight," it added.
I won’t be able to sleep until I know how this person figured out they were on the wrong flight. That’s all I ask. 150 people have been majorly inconvenienced, please, just tell me
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
The flight was rescheduled and was expected to depart Thursday at 2 a.m. Pacific Time, the spokesperson said.
ANA initially told LAX officials that there was an “unauthorized passenger” aboard the flight, but the airline later retracted that, according to LAX police.
As for Teigen, who's pregnant with her second child, she was still tweeting about the incident as of early Wednesday.
“I have been moved to a room with Bravo. Clearly the authorities are trying to keep me quiet so I don’t BLOW THE LID OFF THIS 'SITCH,'” she joked.
I have been moved to a room with Bravo. Clearly the authorities are trying to keep me quiet so I don’t BLOW THE LID OFF THIS “SITCH” pic.twitter.com/ohhpCmjviG
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
“I’m in a room with water and a tv! The government is using real housewives to keep me quiet,” she added in a separate tweet, before eventually conceding defeat.
We live here now. This is our new life pic.twitter.com/ero7e5kFOm
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
Just before midnight Pacific Time, Teigen tweeted that she was "getting on another flight." About an hour later, she said the plane was taking off.
"Taking off!!! Please don’t be the same menu please don’t be the same menu," she tweeted.
Getting on another flight now oh bless
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
Taking off!!! Please don’t be the same menu please don’t be the same menu
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
Teigen later tweeted to her followers that they had arrived in Tokyo but criticized All Nippon Airways for its decision to turn the plane around.
We are HERE!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
Honestly everyone on the ground and in the air were very kind and apologetic. But I just need to know why we couldn’t have flown to tokyo and settled this one person’s mistake (who was going to tokyo all along) there, in tokyo. 230 people on this flight. https://t.co/EhCTERTRu5
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 27, 2017
Washington, D.C., residents Justine Williams and Devin McIntyre were embarking on their honeymoon after visiting relatives in Los Angeles, they told ABC News at the Tokyo airport. They both expressed disappointment that they lost a day from their honeymoon due to the airline's mistake, despite being compensated 30,000 yen, which converts to about $250.
"You can’t make up a day. There’s no compensation that gives us back that day," McIntyre said. "And then the feeling of turning around in the middle of a flight doesn’t make sense. We tried to get the rationale on that decision, but nobody would give it to us."
The couple described the ordeal as a "horrible experience" and said they do not believe they were compensated enough because the sum "doesn't make up for the lost hotel and restaurant reservations and 24 hours of time in Tokyo."
"I mean, everybody on the flight was very nice. The crew and the people on the ground were all police. But, it seemed like there was a lack of leadership," McIntyre said. "Nobody was communicating, and they still need to step up and do the right thing."
- Star
