A British man was able to fly from the UK to Croatia last month using the wrong passport. According to Simple Flying, David Chadwick checked in, passed through security, and boarded a Ryanair flight all while unknowingly using his stepdaughter’s passport.
Upon arriving in Franjo Tuđman Airport in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, he was detained and held in a cell inside the airport until it was time for his return flight back home to Manchester.
Prior to heading to the airport on April 24, Chadwick grabbed his wife’s and what he thought was his passport from a drawer. However, the other passport actually belonged to his 21-year-old stepdaughter. His passport, which he had used two weeks prior to traveling for work, remained in the laptop bag he’d taken with him on that trip.
“I pride myself in never having the wrong things in hand luggage and always having the correct documentation, so I couldn’t believe it had happened,” said Chadwick. “I think our faces said it all. I accept it’s half my fault for picking up the wrong passport, but you’d think that post 9/11, I wouldn’t have been able to board a plane with a female name and photo of my daughter on!”
Initially, the Zagreb Police attempted to get the couple booked on a flight back home, however, no airline could accommodate Chadwick without his passport. The police were also in contact with the British Foreign Office, attempting to attain emergency documentation that would allow him to fly, but since he was unable to enter the country, he would not have been able to retrieve it.
Chadwick and his wife, Alison, had been looking forward to enjoying a romantic five-day vacation in Croatia. However, with her husband being unable to leave the airport, she was forced to vacation alone. She stayed at the Airbnb they had booked, communicating with her husband via voice notes and Whatsapp over the course of the five days they had to spend apart.
Chadwick says he plans to go back to Croatia one day.
“I will definitely go back to Croatia in the future – the police officer and the owner of the Airbnb flat demonstrated how nice Croatian people are. I’ll just make sure I have the right passport next time!”
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