Shortly before Christmas - Fort Myers or Orlando? The main thing is Florida! Airline puts six-year-old on wrong plane
It sounds a bit like a script for a new "Kevin - Alone in New York" movie, but the first plane journey of his young life is likely to stay in Casper's memory for a long time. The six-year-old was supposed to fly alone from Philadelphia to Fort Myers in Florida on Thursday with the airline Spirit, but only his luggage arrived, sending his waiting grandmother into a panic.
"The airline told me that he wasn't on the flight and I told them that wasn't possible because I have documentation from his check-in," Maria Ramos, the six-year-old's grandmother, told the TV station "Wink News". She then ran to the flight attendant on the plane and asked where her grandson was and whether he had been handed over to her in Philadelphia. "But she only said that she didn't have any children on the flight," said Ramos. The clarification followed shortly afterwards: instead of Fort Myers, Casper had landed in Orlando - in Florida after all, but around 250 kilometers away from his actual destination. After Casper contacted his grandmother, she set off on the four-hour drive to pick up her grandson.
Florida: Why was the six-year-old on the wrong plane?
The airline assured Ramos that it would cover the travel costs, but the grandmother wants her questions answered. "I want them to call me and explain to me how my grandson ended up in Orlando. Did they get him off the plane? Did the flight attendant, after his mother handed him over, just let him go off on his own? Did he get on the wrong plane of his own accord?" It is still unclear how the six-year-old was able to get on the wrong plane. "We take the safety of all our passengers very seriously and will investigate the incident internally," a Spirit Airline spokesperson assured the TV station. However, Casper was under observation during his entire journey and was looked after by a team member.
Casper's case is not unique in the USA - even if these incidents are rare. In 2016, a mother sued JetBlue Airways after the airline mistook two children at the airport in the Dominican Republic. When Maribel Martinez went to pick up her five-year-old son at John F. Kennedy in New York, a child she didn't know was waiting for her. Her son ended up at Boston Airport instead. The legal dispute was settled by mutual agreement in the same year.
In 2019, a plane turned around in Newark, North Carolina, just in the nick of time. There, a 14-year-old boy was put on a plane to Germany instead of his connecting flight to Sweden by United Airlines. The plane returned to the gate after the flight attendants noticed the mistake.
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- Despite the potential for confusion, the family was excited for their Christmas trip to Florida, with options between Fort Myers and Orlando.
- The headlines in the world of aviation were abuzz with the tale of a six-year-old from Philadelphia who found himself in Florida, but not the intended Fort Myers; he had landed in Orlando instead.
- As the story made its way across the USA, many people were reminded of a similar scenario that unfolded in New York in 2016, where a mother picked up the wrong child at JFK Airport.
- In another instance, a 14-year-old boy in Newark, North Carolina, was put on a plane to Germany by mistake in 2019, but fortunately, the plane turned around before taking off.
- While these incidents are rare, the mothers involved shared a common sentiment: they wanted answers from the airlines to ensure such errors wouldn't happen again someday, especially during family vacations such as the one planned for Christmas in sunny Florida.
- As Casper's family enjoyed their holiday in the Sunshine State, they couldn't help but look back at the unexpected adventure that started with booking a flight to Fort Myers and ended with a surprise layover in Orlando.
Source: www.stern.de
