Woman with special needs pulled from Allegiant Air flight while asleep: report

A 52-year-old woman suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) told WFLA she was pulled from an Allegiant Air flight after she fell asleep.

Roxanne Raynes was to depart from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport for Bangor, Maine, on Tuesday morning, after a hospice spent a month arranging her travel.

An attendant from the hospice was present at the airport and made certain that Raynes boarded the flight, as she suffers from severe COPD and was heading to Maine with her two cats to live with family.

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But after the hospice staff left, a flight attendant became concerned about the woman’s ability to fly.

“Are you sure you’re OK? I said, ‘Yes, I told you I’m tired. I took a Xanax and I’m anxious and I just feel asleep and I haven’t been on a plane since 1976,” Raynes explained to WFLA. “I’m just really anxious here and I’m going home.”

Raynes told the flight attendant she had been prescribed the Xanax by a doctor.

“Then the next thing I know, they’re up there talking and all of a sudden, ‘Well, you’re going to have to get off the plane,’” Raynes said.

An Allegiant Air spokesperson told WFLA the flight crew were just following company protocol.

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Allegiant’s Hilarie Grey said the flight crew contacted Medlink, a medical advisory group, and it was determined Raynes should not fly.

“In this case, really, it all boils down to an abundancy of concern for Ms. Raynes,” Grey told WFLA. “That that flight attendant was going to do everything in their power to make sure Ms. Raynes didn’t have a medical issue in flight.”

Raynes will now fly to Maine on Thursday morning, and Allegiant Airlines has made certain that a caregiver will accompany her to make sure the process runs smoothly.