18 Suitcases!!!

[StressCadet]

I know, I know, a 3yr old was left behind...but I couldn't get past 18 Suitcases!!!!!


Parents Leave 3-Year-Old Girl In Airport
Plane Took Off For Paris On Busy Travel Weekend, While Daughter Was Still In Airport Stores

(AP / CBS)







Stories
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(AP) An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said Monday.

The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a policeman found her wandering in the duty-free area at Ben-Gurion airport, Israel's bustling main international air portal. He said the officer alerted airline staff, but the flight had already taken off.

The incident happened on what Israeli media said was one of the busiest days of the year at the Israeli airport, with thousands of people leaving for summer vacations abroad. The Haaretz newspaper reported that 2.6 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport in July and August, an increase of 12 percent compared to the same period last year.

Israeli media said the parents of the forgotten girl were an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple but did not give their names.

Rosenfeld said the parents were unaware they had boarded the aircraft with only four children instead of five until they were informed by cabin staff after 40 minutes in the air.

The child, accompanied by an airline staffer, took the next flight to Paris, where she was safely reunited with her parents.

Running the story on its front page Monday, the Yediot Ahronot daily quoted an unnamed police officer as saying, "A very cute little girl grabbed my leg and asked 'where are my parents, where are my brothers?"'

A female police officer identified only by her last name, Ben-Eden, checked records for the girl's family. "I saw her parents and brothers were on a plane that was set to take off in three minutes," she told the paper.

Ben Eden picked up the girl and rushed to the gate for the flight to Paris. "I ran quickly because I knew that every minute mattered. At the same time, the police tried to contact the flight attendants to get them to stop the plane. When I reached the gate, the plane was no longer there."

Rosenfeld said police would question the couple when they return from vacation, on suspicion of parental negligence.

Haaretz quoted the girl's grandmother, who took the family to the airport, as saying, "We're in shock. They're very responsible and organized, top-notch people. Apparently one relied on the other, and this is what happened."

The paper recounted that several days ago, an 8-year-old boy traveling alone boarded a flight to Brussels instead of Munich, and two weeks before that, a 10-year-old boy was left behind when the rest of his group flew to Copenhagen.



© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[StressCadet]

Whoopsie...I meant to post this in the News/Current Event forum..sorry G & A...maybe you can move it if necessary.

Thanks!

[wackymother]

Not to excuse them, because you would think that at some point during those 40 minutes in the air they would have NOTICED that one of their seats was empty (and one of their KIDS NOT THERE!!!!!!!!)...but for a family of seven, 18 suitcases doesn't seem so dramatic. I mean, we have a family of five and if you count backpacks, we might have up to 10 pieces of luggage when we travel. Mind you, we haven't left any of the kids behind. Yet.

[iconnections]

The parents must have felt awful and the little girl lost or terrified but she was able to ask questions and get someone's attention as she was old enough. Can you imagine this happening to a younger child?

However, I can imagine too that something like this can happen with all the hoopla we have to go through with security and to check in so much luggage. You have your hands full and one parent is thinking that the other parent is watching the kids. The girl was lucky she asked the right person and didn't get kidnapped.

Flying is getting a hassle with all the security but it's necessary because of a few evil spirited people.

[Kay H]

This reminds of a story. My sis has 5 children and every couple of yrs they vacation with another family with 4 or 5 children. One yr they camped at Hershey park. One evening they all went to a restaurant for dinner. When leaving the restaurant, my 5 yr old nephew went to the BR. No one missed him in the car. When he came out of the BR, they had left. The restaurant called the police. My nephew knew they were camping but didn't know which campground. All got found and back together.

My nephew is around 40 yrs old now and we still tease about the time his parents tried to lose him.

[lawren2]

I had a problem getting past the 5 kids!!!


DS and I went on a trip last summer and had a lay-over in ATL. There was a family with 7 children. that trooped thru our area. Like rungs on a ladder in age from 10 to infancy. They were all wearing the same collared red rugby shirt. Including the parents.

To this day we call them the "Where's Waldo Family".

Horrible that the child was left behind in the confusion. Poor thing.

18 suitcases. You know they weren't using an LCC.

[muzjik]

Originally Posted by lawren2

I had a problem getting past the 5 kids!!!

DS and I went on a trip last summer and had a lay-over in ATL. There was a family with 7 children. that trooped thru our area. Like rungs on a ladder in age from 10 to infancy. They were all wearing the same collared red rugby shirt. Including the parents.

I have 5 kids and when they were younger I'd put them in the same colored shirt. Easy to keep track of a crew at Disneyland if they are all wearing bright orange. In Washington DC they wore their patriot hats from Williamsburg...really easy to track.

Unfortunately, once they hit 13 they wouldn't let me dress them in matching clothes.

[lawren2]

Originally Posted by muzjik

I have 5 kids and when they were younger I'd put them in the same colored shirt. Easy to keep track of a crew at Disneyland if they are all wearing bright orange. In Washington DC they wore their patriot hats from Williamsburg...really easy to track.

Unfortunately, once they hit 13 they wouldn't let me dress them in matching clothes.

I only have one and would dress him in blazing neon colors whenever we would go to places I wanted or might need to pick him out in a hurry.

5 kids.

Bless you. You are a way better person than me.

[Jya-Ning]

And I guess they did not travel with TS, so they want to take all the clothes with them.

Jya-Ning

[wackymother]

Matching baseball caps work really well for keeping large groups together. Our kids went to a private school where they all wore matching royal-blue baseball caps on every field trip. Somehow the hats are much easier to pick out of a crowd than matching shirts.