A TikToker was trapped in an airport hallway for two hours after a WestJet employee accidentally led him the wrong way
Screenshot/TikTok - @ayden_1997
- A 25-year-old law student got trapped in Calgary after he missed a transfer flight.
- A WestJet staff member led him down a hallway that was locked on both ends.
- He recorded the experience almost like it was a survival vlog, and it went viral on TikTok.
25-year-old Ayden Schumacher was traveling from Winnipeg to Las Vegas when something more horrifying than missing a flight happened. After arriving in Calgary to transfer flights, a WestJet crew member told Schumacher to go the wrong way, and he found himself trapped alone in a random airport hallway for two hours.
The Canadian airline has since apologized for the mishap and told Insider it appreciated the "humor" with which Schumacher approached the "incredibly unfortunate situation."
The traveler documented the experience in a viral TIkTok that has been viewed over 4.5 million times this week.
In the aftermath of the incident, Schumacher told Insider he found the overall experience both funny and concerning. And, in true misfortune, he also shared that it wasn't the first time he's been trapped somewhere while traveling.
How Schumacher escaped from a random airport hallway
Schumacher, a law student who frequently posts about his travels online, was en route to Las Vegas on February 28. When he missed his connecting flight in Calgary, a WestJet staff member told him to go down a hallway to leave.
He explained in the TikTok that both doors at the start and end of the hallway were locked, and the staff member had disappeared. He showed that the door at the end of the hallway was transparent, but he couldn't get anyone's attention to help him because nobody was walking by the area.
"There's nobody walking past there," he said. "I'm totally trapped. I tried every avenue of escape."
He documented the experience almost like it was a survival vlog, with cuts to new updates almost every 15 minutes. In one update, he said he saw a woman on the other side of the transparent door, but she said she couldn't help him and left.
"They're lucky I'm a really chill guy, because some other people would be panicking right now," Schumacher said.
In another update, he said someone opened the door and spoke with him but said they also weren't authorized to let him out. Schumacher told Insider he suspected he wasn't allowed to exit that way due to security reasons.
"I had gone through American customs to get to that part of the airport so I assume there's lots of rules to make sure no one is doing anything sketchy," he said.
As the hours passed, Schumacher was still good-humored about the situation, but it began wearing on him. He started to mentally prepare to be there for days.
"This is maybe my home, this hallway. Too bad there's no furniture," he joked. "No water or food though, so I mean, we've only been here for, like, maybe 40 minutes, but it will become an issue at, like, day three."
Schumacher ended up having to call border security, he told Insider, which signaled a security guard to finally help escort him out.
For his troubles, he said the WestJet customer service gave him a free hotel room for the night and food vouchers. He said WestJet also gave him 50 "WestJet dollars," a reward program token that's worth one Canadian dollar each.
"It was great to just lay around and eat food!" he said.
When reached, a WestJet spokesperson apologized for what happened to Schumacher.
"We sincerely apologize for the experience of this guest and appreciate his humor and understanding as he navigated this incredibly unfortunate situation," the company said in an email statement.
Unfortunately for Schumacher, this wasn't the first time he's found himself trapped in a space while traveling. While he was in France last summer, he said he was locked in the bathroom of a Canadian memorial he was visiting in the country. He had to stand on a sink and yell out an open window until he was discovered.
"So, yeah, I guess I have a weird amount of experience getting locked in places," he joked.