When Broadway understudy Mikayla Renfrow received a text saying she was needed to stand in for the lead role of Jasmine in "Aladdin,” she was on a flight from her Italian vacation to New York City. A sympathetic flight attendant ushered her to first class so she would be the first passenger to leave. The pilot then came out and assured he would do everything so she could make her curtain call.
She is the (or at least an) understudy, and was set to be able to return on time. Her delayed flight changed that. I can’t find why the other people capable of covering the role were unavailable.
Not sure why it’s a YouTube video, but here is a non-video link from Playbill.com covering the same thing. I’m pretty sure it’s legit.