Couple left feeling like ‘illegal immigrants’ in Spain after cabin crew removed their passports before take off
Holidaymakers forced to camp out near airport for 24-hours while they waited for documents
A STRANDED couple have said they felt like "illegal immigrants" in Spain after a member of the cabin crew removed their passports, driving licence and travel documents from a flight before take off.
Terry and Jane Usher were flying from Liverpool to Mallorca for their annual holiday on July 26 when their documents were removed.
Father-of-three Terry, 50, said: "We placed a document wallet under the seat. It had our driving licence, passports, vouchers for hotel and car hire.
"The chap in the the next row removed it and passed it to the flight crew and instead of checking if it belonged to anyone as they assumed it was from the flight before and passed it off the plane before it took off. "
When they landed on the Spanish island the couple were alarmed to check to beneath their seats and discover the folder was missing.
Terry said: "The flight crew managed to smuggle us through passport control but we were left in Spain as illegal immigrants almost."
Stranded with no documentation and unable to collect their hire car to travel to their accommodation, the couple spoke to staff about what they should do.
Care manager Terry added: "When we were at the customer services desk I said to the lady you must have situations where flights are delayed and you have to put people up.
"I said 'well that's what we are talking about' and she said 'we only do that if it's our fault'.
"All they did was when the same flight came through [the next day] they put them on.
"We had to wait 24-hours and incur all that expense."
Ryanair has told the couple it will not reimburse their expenses as it is the responsibility of customers to keep their passports with them.
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The couple had been booked to stay in a hotel 65 miles from the airport and had to pay for new accommodation - while missing out on a day of their holiday.
Terry from the Wirral added: "We spent the next day camped around near to the airport.
"We nearly could not get into a hotel because we had no passports."
Luckily a hotel did let the couple check-in using the only identification they had - Jane's bus pass.
Ryanair flew their documents out on the same flight the following day.
Mr Usher added: "They do not even want to acknowledge that they have done anything wrong and that disappoints me.
"I wish we had just rung the police at the airport.
"At least we would have had it officially logged.
"I felt vulnerable. I'm in, but I have got no passport I'm essentially an illegal alien in another country.
"It was our annual holiday, we both work full time so we value our holiday."
Terry wrote a letter of complaint to Ryanair when he returned to England.
When responding to to his letter the airline said "We sincerely regret that you lost your passport on your flight" before informing him he was not entitled to any compensation.
When The Sun contacted the airline a spokeswoman said: “While we regret the inconvenience Mr Usher suffered in this case – but like all customers – it is his responsibility to keep his passport with him at all times.
"When this black folder was handed to our cabin crew they asked if any passenger had mislaid it, when no customer claimed it, the folder was given to the handling agent in Liverpool as it was assumed it belonged to a customer on the inbound flight.
"We will not be reimbursing Mr Usher as there is no basis for any compensation in this case.”
Mr Usher has said he will take the case further and has contacted an ombudsman.
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