Tom Wagner says he fell asleep on a United Express flight from Louisiana to California. When the jet made a stop over in Houston, he was apparently overlooked by fellow passengers and the plane's crew.

Wagner said at first he thought he was dreaming when he woke up in the empty jet, "I woke up and the lights were out and I said, 'What's going on'?"

Wagner told KVEO-TV that he called his girlfriend from his cellphone to let her know what happened, but she didn't believe him. He says it wasn't until about 30 minutes later when a maintenance crew came on board that he was discovered.

Express Jet issued the following statement on the incident; "Express Jet is investigating to determine how this occurred, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused the passenger."

Wagner says the airline paid for a hotel room for him that night and gave him a $250 voucher for his missed connection and inconvenience.

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Bob Banks is an actor, known for Supercool (2021), Outer Banks (2020), The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), Antwone Fisher (2002), Love Crimes (1992), Midnight Edition (1993), Daddy’s Little Girls (2007) Selma, Lord, Selma (1999), In the Heat of the Night (TV Series) (1991-1993), and I’ll Fly Away (TV Series) (1991-1992). Bob is an accomplished Voice Over (VO) Actor and lives in Atlanta, GA.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com