A group of strangers banded together to rent a 15-person van after their flight was cancelled and took a ten-hour - 650 mile - road trip to their destination.

Alanah Story, 23, was travelling from Orlando, Florida, to Knoxville, Tennessee, when her flight home was cancelled.

She had been visiting her family in Orlando with her mother Renee, 45, and her godmother, Robin, 50.

Alanah and her family had arrived at Orlando International Airport on time for their 7 pm flight, to discover it was delayed - then cancelled.

Alanah's mother Renee tried to book them on another flight, but Frontier Airlines was unable to give them assurances that they will be able to fly out that night.

While at help desk, Renee met Carlos, a police officer who was also heading to Knoxville to visit the University of Tennessee with his daughter and wife Lauren, at 10 am the next morning.

The two agreed that they could rent a van and drive to Knoxville, located over 1,000 km (650 miles) away from Orlando.

Carlos and Renee suggested the idea to several passengers and they were able to gather a group of 13 passengers.

Among the rest of the group were Johan and Adolf, from Mexico, Michelle, who was headed to a farming convention in Knoxville, and Q, who was simply trying to get home.

Alanah, the founder of media company, said: "I was off to one side because I didn't want to be involved, my mom just turned to me and said we're headed downstairs to get a van, come on people."

"Like 15 people followed her, I was just wondering what was happening."

The drive went down without a hitch, with the group travelling the distance in about 10 hours, arriving at 8:30 am the following morning.

In the end, all the passengers managed to keep their appointments, Carlos' daughter made it to the university appointment and Michelle was able to deliver her speech as the keynote speaker.

In a video posted on TikTok, Carlos said: "I'm really grateful to all these people here. My baby girl really had her heart set out to make this appointment at the University of Tennessee."

"But we made our 10am appointment, all because of a community that came together."

Seth, another traveler, added: "Honestly, I tried to nap a good bit, but I'd like to think that I was good moral support to Carlos, the driver so I'm gonna go with that."

"We made it to Knoxville, we're here, and I might not even be late for work, so...."

What started as a journey of convenience, ended with some brand new friendships.

Alanah made friends with Q, who lives in Knoxville, and the two are planning on going out for karaoke soon.

Carlos' wife Lauren and Alanah's mother Renee have also kept in touch.
"It was not a quiet ride," Alanah said, "no one was getting any sleep on that drive, I think I slept around 20 minutes."

"I really couldn't have picked a better group of people to make the trip with."

"The whole experience really confirmed my faith in humanity for a little bit, in the States right now we're going through a period of division, so it was nice to see."

"People can be good, that's my main takeaway."

The footage was filmed on December 4.