A possible unintended rearrangement of letters sent a Dakar, Senegal bound US couple to Dhaka, Bangladesh, msn news reported on Monday.
Sandy Valdiviseo and her husband Triet Vo had booked a Turkish Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Dakar but instead got put on a flight to an entirely different continent, 11,000km away, because of what they claim was an airport code mix-up.
Although the airport code for Dakar is DKR, and for Dhaka is DAC, the couple realised something was wrong only after they boarded a connecting flight in Istanbul, and the map of the aircraft’s progress showed they were heading away from Africa and towards the Middle East.
However, their doubts were mistakenly cleared even after they asked the flight attendant.
“When the flight attendant said we were heading to Dhaka, we believed that this was how you pronounced ‘Dakar’ with a Turkish accent,” Ms Valdivieso said.
Upon their arrival in Dhaka, the couple alerted the airline about the confusion and asked for a transfer.
The incident took place in December but had not been reported until now due to the couple’s battle to win compensation.
“I have called them every Friday for the past four months,” Ms Valdivieso said.
“They told me each time that they will review my case and get back to me. But they never do.”
A Turkish Airline spokeswoman expressed regret over the matter and said they offered the couple two free economy class tickets to any destination “in their network”.
