IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER...

[omegaet]

....when preparing to board your flight at the airport.......

Parents Forget 3-Year-Old at Airport

AP

JERUSALEM (Aug. 4) - Israeli airport police say a couple going on a European vacation remembered to bring their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport.

The couple and their five children were late for a flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost. A policeman found her wandering around the terminal, crying for her mother.

Israeli media report Monday that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents, whose names were not released, didn't notice the child was missing until they were told, in the air, that she had been found at Ben-Gurion airport.

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

you can't make up stories like this one.......



Message Edited by omegaet on 08-04-2008 04:53 PM

[kyshel]

well, DUH--where did they think she was? In the lav??
At least they didn't have to keep track of their bags, which, obviously were taken out of their control on check-in. They couldn't have been TOO late, since the airline allowed them to check bags AND go duty-free shopping!?!!?

[omegaet]

kyshel....they only checked 18 bags.....do you suppose they had carry-on and their duty-freeitems as well?

[kyshel]

This almost sounds bogus? Why didn't the gate crew see the difference in count and check-ins? There's a tally of the boarding passes and listed passengers and it could not have matched. There's a printout of who has boarded and how in the world could the parents not notice the empty seat? I don't care if you have 5 kids, you should be able to realize if you haven't put a three year old and their things away for an overseas flight! Maybe the reporter is trying for a Pulitzer?

[lhbrown]

Hi,
I read the same story and I have to agree with kyshel. In this day and age, where there are checks and double checks, this story sounds far fetched. You go through a ticket check at the check-in counter, you go through passport control, already at these two stations, the missing 3-year old should have been noticed by the personnel and the parents.At passport control there are no bags involved, only passports and people. If you have 5 passports and 4 people, the officer would have noticed, or should have. Furthermore, before any flight takes off, there is a head count which is checked against the passenger list. If this is a true story, something went drastically wrong.

[kyshel]

well said and no exaggeration--something went way wrong if it's really true--the parents!
I would guess this was not EL AL. We're not talking "home alone"--a family of 20 something missing an precocious 8 yr old...

[travel2fun]

Girl, 4, left behind at Israeli airport as family rushes to catch flight
Agence France-Presse Published:Tuesday, August 05, 2008


A four-year-old girl was left behind at Israel's Ben Gurion international airport on Sunday as her mother, father and four siblings rushed to catch a flight to Paris, police said. "I saw a little girl in tears. She was looking for her parents," a policewoman said. "Luckily she was able to give me her name. I grabbed her and ran to the gates but it was too late," the plane had just taken off, she said. Police say the girl's parents only realized she was missing when the pilot of the plane informed them just as the aircraft was taking off. The incident was similar to the box office hit Home Alone, in which a little boy is accidentally left alone as his family rushes to the airport and flies to Paris for a Christmas holiday. The girl was flown to Paris on the next flight out, accompanied by a flight attendant. The parents risk being indicted for negligence, police say.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the family in row 3: you left your daughter behind at the airport


jpost.com August 05, 2008

A four-year-old Israeli girl was left behind at the airport as her mother, father and four siblings rushed to catch a flight to Paris.

The ultra-Orthodox family of seven, who between them had 18 suitcases, were in a hurry not to miss their flight from Ben Gurion international airport at Tel Aviv, and in their haste failed to notice that only six of them had actually boarded the plane.

The girl was found crying and wandering around the departures hall, a massive circular area with dozens of stores and eateries.

Sagit Ben-Eden, a policewoman, noticed the girl and stopped to interview her. After obtaining her surname and checking flight records they ascertained that the parents had boarded a San Dor flight to Paris an hour earlier.




I saw a little girl in tears. She was looking for her parents, Ms Ben-Eden said.
Luckily she was able to give me her name. I grabbed her and ran to the gates but it was too late (because the plane had just taken off)."

As the aircraft gained height, the girls parents suffered the crushing embarrassment of being tannoyed by the pilot of the plane to inform them that their family was one short. They had apparently still not realised.

Superintendent Amnon Shmueli, commander of the airport's Passport Control said: "I've been on this job for many years, but I've never seen someone forget their child at the airport. I've seen people return to collect forgotten equipment, but such an incident never happened before."

The incident was a reminder of the 1990 US box office hit Home Alone, in which a little boy is accidentally left alone as his family rush to the airport and fly to Paris for a Christmas holiday.

Unlike the movie, there was a happy ending for the little girl who was able to join her parents. She was flown to Paris on the next flight out, accompanied by a flight attendant.

The forgetful parents will be questioned by the authorities upon their return home and may be charged with negligence after a complete investigation, police said.

The girl's grandmother, who took the family to the airport from their home in the northern town of Afula, said: "I simply don't know how this happened to them. We're in shock. They're very responsible and organised, top-notch people. Apparently each one relied on the other and this is what happened."

The incident comes a few days after an eight-year-old boy traveling alone from Ben Gurion got on an El Al flight to Brussels instead of Munich, where his grandparents were waiting for him. Two weeks before that, a 10-year-old boy was left at Ben-Gurion airport while the rest of his group got on a Turkish Airline flight to Copenhagen.

[kyshel]

Thanks for the update T2F. The initial MSN article seemed a bit off.
Darned duty-free wasn't the best choice for them, was it?!

[omegaet]

....now this entire situation (if it actually happened)becomes even more confusing! Was the little girl three or four years of age? Appears we have headlines differing on that detail.....or maybe it wasthe birthday of the little girland she aged another yearduring the time being left behind at LLBG/TLV or " =


Message Edited by omegaet on 08-06-2008 04:16 PM

[betsyv]

I read a similar article in my newspaper. It is my understanding it is not bogus. How it happened, I couldn't even guess-both logistically and rationally. I just can't imagine although I know they were traveling with 5 children, how they didn't notice at some point that they only had 4. Oh, and I don't know where 3 years of age came about because I have heard repeatedly that the little girl was 4 years of age.