The plane had taken off, but suddenly turned around and the woman was rushed out!
Just before takeoff, Southwest Airlines turned a plane around so a passenger could speak to her husband after her son entered a coma.
Peggy Uhle, a passenger, didn’t know that her 24-year-old son had fallen into a coma back in Denver when she was flying from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio.
Her husband had to call the airline to inform Mrs. Uhle of the catastrophe because she had turned off her phone in order to travel.
According to CBS station 21 News in Harrisburg, customer care agents were able to coordinate with the aircraft so that the pilots could abort takeoff and return to the gate in order to put Mrs. Uhle in touch with her husband.
Mrs. Uhle claimed that after learning that her son had allegedly suffered a traumatic brain injury, the airline gave her a complimentary seat on the following direct flight to Denver.
Peggy wrote on the travel website BoardingArea.com, “They offered a private waiting space, relocated my bags, let me board first, and packed a lunch for when I got off the plane in Denver.”
“My luggage was brought to my lodging, and I even got a call from Southwest inquiring how my son was doing,” the traveler said.
For whatever extra services she obtained from the airline, Mrs. Uhle has not been charged.
“The care that I was offered is second to none,” the Southwest traveler continued.
‘This incident is a clear representation of the Southwest Airlines Culture,’ a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines told MailOnline Travel.
Employees at Southwest are given the freedom to go above and beyond the call of duty and make choices that will benefit our customers.
“We’re obviously glad of all the hard work that went into doing the right thing for Ms. Uhle and her family, but we’re not surprised by any of it,” the statement reads.
According to Elliott, an advocacy organization, Peggy’s son has a traumatic brain injury but is making progress.
The news came just after another Southwest customer claimed that the airline prevented her from calling her husband after he sent her a message threatening to commit suicide.
Wisconsin resident Karen Momsen-Evers claimed that just before her flight from New Orleans to Milwaukee was ready to take off, she sent a message back to her husband but was unable to call him because a flight attendant indicated the phone needed to be put in flight mode.
Mrs. Momsen-Evers claims that when she sought another flight attendant for permission to make an emergency call after takeoff, she was told there was nothing that could be done.
She was greeted by police when she got home, who told her that her husband had passed away.
Southwest Airlines’ heartfelt condolences are extended to the Evers family during this trying time, a spokeswoman told WTMJ in Milwaukee.
The spokesperson claimed that even though flight attendants are taught to alert pilots to emergencies that could endanger the safety of the aircraft or the people on board, in this case the pilots were not informed.
