AIRLINE staff amazingly failed to spot a snoozing passenger for more than three hours after a flight touched down at Philadelphia International Airport.

Ginger McGuire was fast asleep as her red-eye United Airways Express flight from Washington DC came in to land in yesterday, KYW reported.

But while her fellow passengers left the plane, staff reportedly failed to notice Ms McGuire still sleeping in her seat after it landed at 12.27am local time. She was finally roused by a cleaner at 3.50am as the aircraft sat on the tarmac.

"I can't believe on a 50-passenger plane that nobody would wake someone up like that," Trevor Hirz, a fellow traveller, said.

"We are working closely with our partner Trans States to investigate the cause and remedy the situation with the customer," a spokesperson for United Airlines said.

Trans States Airlines, which operates United Express flights, said it was standard protocol to make sure all passengers were safely off the plane at the end of every flight.

The gaffe remained under investigation today.

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