On Feb 4 (Superbowl Saturday), I was heading out of MHT to Las Vegas through DTW on flight 1885 due to leave Manchester at 4:09pm. Arrived at the airport to be told of a 20 minute flight delay, but all connections should be fine, so I cleared security, headed to the gate and sat down to watch part of a DVD while waiting. Around 3:50, I looked around and noticed the whole area was cleared out! I asked a roaming TSA agent where everyone went and he said, "Oh, I think they cancelled this flight." YIKES. I headed back through security to the ticket counter where lines had formed and chaos was beginning. The monitor posted a 2 hour delay. Some people were being rebooked on United, most rebooked for the next day. I was last in line and listening to all the discussion among the agents. "Plane still in line for de-icing in DTW"...." Looks like they pushed the time back again". . . "Hold on, I think they're going to just cancel it". "Things are really backed up in Detroit", etc.

I get to the gate and am told the plane hasn't left DTW, it was in a huge line for deicing, proabably will not even make it into MHT tonight. They offered to rebook me for in the morning. I ask, can I just hang around in case the plane does get here and goes out at some point tonight? I'd at least like to get to DTW, even though I'm fully aware I'll be sleeping on the floor there with the Superbowl in town. The agent says OK, books me as a back-up on the last DTW-MSP flight in case I get to DTW in time for that, or the early flight out of Boston the next day in case the plane never makes it to Manchester tonight.

As I'm sitting down on the floor across from the counter and calling my husband to tell him he'll probably have to drive back up here and pick me up in a few minutes, the agent starts wildly waving his arms at me, "Ma'am, Ma'am....come here, there's been a mistake!" I gather my stuff quickly and scramble over to the counter.

Says the agent, "There's been a mistake, that plane isn't sitting on the de-icing pad in Detroit, it's actually in the air....in fact it just landed! Go get on it!"

So I head back through security with the 6 or 7 other people that were still hanging around and board the plane. We all (less than a dozen of us on the plane) made it to DTW in time for our connections......but those agents just rebooked that entire flight!! About 40 people were rebooked on other carriers or sent home!! They called it a "computer glitch"..but how could that have possibly happened? I sure hope the people who came back the next day didn't hear that the plane really came for them.

I think there's a lesson in here somewhere.