Credit: Kennedy News & Media
Woman Was Deported ‘Five Minutes’ Into Vacation After Making One Simple Mistake
A woman was deported just ‘five minutes’ into her vacation after making an easy mistake on board her flight.
Rebecca McCurry had been looking forward to a sunny getaway in Morocco with three of her friends, but the trip quickly turned into a nightmare before she had even made it out of the airport.
The 22-year-old had flown from Edinburgh to Marrakesh and was expecting to begin a fun-filled break with her group.
Instead, she says she was stopped at the border, questioned for hours, left terrified by officials, and eventually sent back to the UK after realizing she had left one crucial item behind.
The vacation went wrong almost immediately
McCurry says the problem began almost as soon as she stepped off the plane.
Within around five minutes of arriving at Marrakesh airport, she realized she had left her passport on her seat.
The nanny immediately alerted airport staff and assumed the issue would be easy to fix, especially as the aircraft was still nearby.
She explained: “Immediately after I got off the plane, I realised I had left my passport on my seat.
“Keeping my passport on me is my responsibility, obviously. But I was away from it for five minutes before I realised.”
According to McCurry, she told a member of airport staff what had happened and was initially reassured that it would not be a major problem.
She said: “I told a member of airport staff and they said it wasn’t a problem, and they’d let the people from Ryanair know.”
McCurry claims she even offered to return to the plane herself to retrieve it, but says she was not allowed back onboard.
“I said I was happy to get it myself, but they wouldn’t let me back on the plane,” she said.
She was questioned by the border police
As time passed and her passport had still not been returned, McCurry says she began to panic.
She claims a Ryanair staff member eventually came back and told her the aircraft had been searched, but that the passport could not be found.
McCurry said she immediately knew something was wrong.
“As time went on, I started to get a bit panicky,” she explained.
“Then a staff member for Ryanair came back and said they searched the whole plane but it wasn’t there. I just knew that was impossible.”
Without her passport, McCurry could not pass through border control and enter Morocco.
She says she was then taken aside by border police and questioned for around three hours.
The 22-year-old described the experience as frightening and claimed the officers were intimidating.
Recalling the ordeal, she said: “They were not being nice. They were being intimidating, laughing at me.
“They kept calling me ‘little girl.’”
McCurry says the situation became so overwhelming that she fainted multiple times while waiting to find out what would happen next.
She was eventually told she would be deported.
She feared being stuck for days
McCurry claims officials told her she might not be able to return to Edinburgh for several days, which made the situation even more distressing.
She said: “They told me I was being deported but there might not be another flight back to Edinburgh for at least five days.”
The news confused her because she believed the same plane she had arrived on was still at the airport and due to return to Scotland.
She added: “I didn’t understand because the plane I arrived on, which was going back to Edinburgh, was still sat on the runway after nearly two hours.”
After hours of questioning, McCurry says she was left waiting in a nearby fast food restaurant while arrangements were made.
Her vacation had effectively ended before it had begun, while her friends were left to continue the trip without her.
After what she described as an 11-hour ordeal, she was eventually placed on a flight back to the UK.
However, rather than being sent back to Edinburgh, McCurry was flown to Manchester Airport.
Her father, Brian, then had to make a six-hour journey to collect her.
The most frustrating part of the ordeal came when McCurry learned that her passport had not vanished at all.
According to the 22-year-old, someone she knew happened to be travelling back on the same aircraft and later found the passport exactly where she had said it would be.
She said: “It was exactly where I left it.”
McCurry believes the situation could have been resolved quickly if she had been allowed to retrieve it herself, or if the search had successfully located it while the aircraft was still at the airport.
Instead, she says the mistake cost her the entire vacation.
The experience has left her urging other travelers to be extra careful with their documents, even during the moments immediately after landing when passengers are gathering bags and leaving the plane.
Although she accepts that keeping hold of her passport was ultimately her responsibility, McCurry believes the aftermath could have been handled differently.
Ryanair responded to the incident
Ryanair later issued a statement addressing what happened.
A spokesperson for the airline said: “This passenger misplaced their passport onboard their flight from Edinburgh to Marrakesh on the 31 July and subsequently was denied entry into Marrakesh.
“As requested by Marrakesh authorities, Ryanair reaccommodated this passenger onto the next available flight to the UK later that day.
“All passengers travelling with Ryanair must present the correct travel documentation for the country of destination as determined by that country, however it is each passenger’s responsibility to carry valid travel documents.”
For McCurry, the incident remains a painful reminder of how one small mistake can derail an entire trip.
What was meant to be a relaxing vacation with friends instead became a stressful experience involving border police, deportation, and an unexpected flight home.
Now, she is sharing her story as a warning to others.
No matter how excited you are to get off the plane, she says passengers should always check they have their passport before stepping into the airport.
For most travelers, forgetting headphones, sunglasses or a jacket might be inconvenient.
But leaving behind a passport can mean the vacation is over before it has even started.
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