American Airlines passengers stuck in the Bahamas without passports

A group of American Airlines passengers were stranded in a terminal in the Bahamas for several hours, with limited access to food and water and forced to share a single toilet with passengers on an entire plane.

In a viral TikTok uploaded by a user named Kate (@italiankate), a passenger reported how the airline handled the situation. Many other users of the app felt that passengers were unnecessarily subjected to inhumane conditions.

Kate begins her video with a commuter describing his complaints about flying from Puerto Rico to the US. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, the pilot thought it was better to play it safe, so instead of trying to get to the US from Puerto Rico, they landed in the Bahamas instead.

Now it gets complicated: Since PR is a US territory, you don’t need a passport to travel there. However, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a separate country, which means you’ll need a passport when entering or leaving the US.

Since Kate and her travel partner were only planning to travel from the USA to Puerto Rico and back, they didn’t think they would need to have their passports with them. After landing in the Bahamas, the pilot continued to ask which passengers had their passports and which didn’t.

The man who tells the story says that no one on the flight answered in the affirmative because they were all on a domestic flight. To make matters worse, even though they had clearance to take off, they were unable to leave the Bahamas airport. This was because the pilot “couldn’t work overtime.”

This meant that all passengers were stuck in the terminal until a pilot was selected for their flight. They could not leave the area as they were technically in the Bahamas illegally.

The tired expressions on everyone’s faces in the video become more understandable when the man explains how long they have been waiting at the airport.

He says they landed in the Bahamas around 8pm on Saturday night. He then looks at his watch and says that by the time the video was taken, it was already 5:40am the next morning.

His frustration obviously grows as he begins to talk about how American Airlines led passengers to believe they would only be slightly delayed and could continue their journey. He says that within the first hour of landing in the Bahamas, they were told that a plane was ready for them to return home.

He says American has not provided any updates on their situation and that passengers have been surviving on Biscoff cookies and soda for several hours.

Another passenger who suffered a “medical emergency” was denied re-entry onto the plane to collect his medication due to “laws” and “bureaucracy,” according to the leaflet.

“We’ve been here for seven hours now. No food. No water. It’s cold. No blanket. We have one bathroom for 100 people. Dogs. Children. No information,” he says, pointing to the number of passengers stuck in the terminal.

The passenger continued, “Hopefully we’ll get a refund after this. I’d ask around to see how everyone else is doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if my feelings are mutual.”

No further updates on the situation have been posted on Kate’s TikTok account.

Several users of the app expressed their sympathy for the American Airlines passengers. One app user was shocked by the treatment of the passengers: “Dude, you all got hijacked!” he wrote.

Another person didn’t seem too surprised by the travelers’ predicament, writing, “American Airlines always does this.”

Someone else felt that this was grounds for legal action. And since there were so many passengers, they might have to file a class action lawsuit: “Speak to a lawyer as soon as possible.”

If you’re wondering what happened to the people in the video, the comments section seems to offer an answer. One TikToker, @dimas, said they were on the AA flight that landed in the Bahamas. They wrote that they left the country about five hours after the video was shot.

“We finally left the Bahamas at 10:15 a.m. We were trapped there for 14 HOURS,” they said.

Several people responded that they believed they had good reasons to seek financial compensation for the way American handled their flight.

One app user recommended that instead of wasting their time contacting American Airlines and demanding their money, they should contact the Federal Aviation Administration: “You can file a complaint with the FAA. American won’t give you your money back, but the FAA might be able to force them to. They could also force them to pick you up.”