Traveler films himself ‘totally trapped’ in airport hallway: ‘I would be screaming’

Missing your flight at the last minute is an all-too-common fear, but one man on TikTok says his recent airport debacle goes one step further than that.

Not only did he miss his connecting flight by seconds, but he also got locked inside an airport hallway while trying to leave — and had to wait more than an hour to be rescued.

Ayden (@ayden_1997) shared the bizarre story, explaining that he was rushing to make a WestJet flight from Calgary to Las Vegas when he missed the final call for departure. He decided to head to his gate anyway, in case the plane was still there and he could find a way to board. But once he arrived, it was clear the plane was already gone.

“They told me to go down this hallway to leave,” he explained while filming himself in real-time.

The only problem? The door at the other end of the hallway was locked — and when he turned back to use the door he initially walked through, he discovered that was locked, too.

@ayden_1997

Just a little video I made to pass the time while trapped in a hallway a few days ago. Makes for a funny story, and who doesnt love a good story!😂 #fyp #travel #airport #calgary #adventure #funny #weird #canada #america

♬ original sound – Ayden

“Yeah, so I’m totally trapped,” Ayden said, adding that he had already tried “every avenue of escape” without any luck.

Making matters worse was that he was in a pretty empty part of the airport, meaning he had to wait a long time for someone to pass by. But eventually, he made contact with someone.

“There was a lady on the other side of the door and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m trapped — can you let me out?'” Ayden shared. “And she was like, ‘No, I can’t’ [and left].”

By this point, Ayden had been in the hallway for about 40 minutes and said he’d called the airport for help but was still waiting for someone to get him.

“They’re lucky I’m a really chill guy because some people would be panicking right now,” he said with a laugh.

But as he neared the hour-and-a-half mark — without food, water or a bathroom — he was no longer laughing.

Eventually, a call to U.S. customs set him free at just under two hours. And while he was thankful that he got out, the wait was pretty brutal.

“I would have peed my pants by minute 8,” one person wrote in the comments.

“I’m still stuck at someone opening the door to talk to you but not letting you out,” another person said.

Others couldn’t get over how calm, cool and collected he was during the ordeal.

“This is a very Canadian reaction to being trapped,” one person told him.

“You are the definition of self control bc the second someone saw me, came & left or teased me with an open door I would be screaming,” someone else admitted.

@ayden_1997

Replying to @Sao.Jesus.71 alright, alright, here is an update. Nothing too crazy happened after I filmed my last video but here is the rest of the story 😂 #airport #canada #calgary #travel #adventure #hallway #silly

♬ original sound – Ayden

In a follow-up video, Ayden said he later went to WestJet customer service to let them know what happened, and he was eventually booked on another flight, comped an overnight stay at a nearby hotel and given food vouchers to cover his meals. After his TikTok went viral, the airline also sent him $50 in WestJet bucks to use on future air travel.

According to Ayden, that was more than enough to make up for the incident.

“I didn’t make the video ’cause I was mad or wanted anything, I just wanted to like share a funny story that was happening to me in that moment,” he said with a laugh.

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