Drinking Coca-Cola to ensure he did not fall asleep, Lines was apparently relieved that he made the connection, that he fell asleep on the final Vancouver leg of his journey.  

He was woken up after his flight landed by a mechanic in an aircraft hangar.

The plane had landed, the passengers and crew left, and it had taxied down the runway with him still on board.

Lines said on being awakened, he thought everybody had just left the aircraft and he quickly grabbed for his things only to be told to take his time, the plane had been on the ground for an hour and a half.

The ground staff took a copy of his boarding pass and arranged transportation back  to the terminal.

And what about security?

Lines said later it was all very low key and amusing, but noted that “the crazy thing is that when you fly they have got so many security checks, and yet they left me alone in a secure area for an hour and a half.”

He was surprised too, to find his bag still waiting on the baggage belt.  In the UK he suggested, if a bag was unclaimed for a long period “most times it would be blown up."

Lines said he wrote to Air Canada to warn them about the "huge problem in their security."  The response was that the cabin crew had been busy with wheelchair passengers and had not checked to ensure the cabin had been emptied.

The airline also apologised in writing for the incident, and as a goodwill gesture offered him 20% cent off his next flight.

Lines said things might have been different if he was an elderly passenger, or a child, or if he had woken up by himself.

Still he said, it makes a good story and the airline could market the incident to show how comfortable passengers are on their flights. Of course, that would also mean showing up a huge lapse in security – so it’s not likely we’ll see that ad anytime soon.

The moral of the story, said Lines, is to “set an alarm or wear something fluorescent when you fly."