Airline Mixes Up 5-Year Old Boys and Flies Them to Wrong Cities

Airline Mixes Up 5-Year Old Boys and Flies Them to Wrong Cities - From Time/ U.S./ Aviation/ time.com

"JetBlue is reviewing how the mix-up occurred.

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman in New York says she hasn’t stopped crying since an airline mistook her 5-year-old for another child and flew him to the wrong city.

Maribel Martinez tells New York’s Daily News she was shocked when JetBlue staffers presented her with another little boy on Aug. 17 at Kennedy Airport.

“No, this is not my child,” she recalled telling JetBlue employees. “I was freaking out.”

Her lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said that child was supposed to be in Boston. Instead, Martinez’s son, Andy, was sent there and it took hours for the airline to figure out where he was and return him home safely.

“I thought he was kidnapped,” said Martinez. “I thought I would never see him again.”

Both unaccompanied 5-year-old boys had boarded in the Dominican Republic. Martinez said her son was wearing a wristband with his name on it. But the other child was carrying Andy’s passport.

The boy who was mistakenly flown to New York was safely returned to Boston, the airline said. JetBlue is reviewing how the mix-up occurred...."


Richard Drew—AP Maribel Martinez holds a photo of her son Andy at her attorney's office, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. Martinez says she hasn't stopped crying since JetBlue airlines mistook her 5-year-old for another child and flew him to the wrong city.


Richard

Wow 5 years old. That's just a baby in my book. I was freaking out when I let my then 14 year old fly home alone from her grandma's in New York.

Flew her first class (which I had only done once on the outbound trip ). She was supposed to fly in to John Wayne (SNA). Planes can't land there after 11 pm so her delayed flight was rerouted to LAX.

The airline told me not to worry they would get her to SNA. Drove to LAX and met her at baggage claim at 3 am. She was surrounded by what I can only assume was ALL the first class passengers. United even let her Grandmother on the plane because of the 6 hour delay in JFK until they were ready to depart cause grandma was very worried about her being alone so long.

There is no way I would let a 5 year old fly unaccompanied NO WAY NO HOW!!!

turkel,
My thoughts exactly. And of course now it seems it's time to sue, sue, sue. (Just guessing as they also talked to her lawyer.)
Not to mention, also surprised the airline allowed it at that age.

Like a bad version of the parent trap JetBlue is reviewing how the mix-up occurred.

When my nephew was 5 and staying with me (his second summer 7 day stay), he decided to play "Hide & Seek" while on a work site of refurbishing (painting & cleaning) a 3 bedroom house. My carpenter and I searched this empty house, calling his name for a long 10 minutes. He was hiding in a closet under a shelving unit.

When I got both my hands on him with my nose to his nose and with my 6'2" carpenter standing behind me, he got the lecture of his still short life ... at full volume. He got told "a 'job site' is NOT a play game ... and if he ever did that again, he would NEVER be allowed back .... you answer the 1st time your name is called".

I could see 2 little boys, playing with tickets and/or passports ... and looking at the only things they had in their hands... and swapping them. JetBlue's counter agents totally missed the mark on these pint size travelers.

I personally would never let a 5 year old fly alone. That is crazy.

Even with UM on airlines, that is just too young.

I agree, what are these parents thinking letting a 5 year old fly alone?! And WHY would an airline even accommodate such a travel request.

My 5 year old (yesterday) granddaughter started Kindergarten today and I heard there were tears at parting with mom and dad. I can't even imagine putting her on a plane by herself!

Unreal.

When minors fly unaccompanied a designated guardian is supposed to stay with them at the gate right up until they step onto the jetway, and then a designated guardian is supposed to meet them at the arrival gate as soon as they step off the jetway. These guardians are practically the only non-passengers who are allowed through Security.

So where were the guardians, and how come they allowed the two boys to mix up their passports? Shouldn't they have been at different gates anyway, flying to different cities? I hope JetBlue figures out how this happened but based on the little bit reported I'm not ready to say JetBlue is at fault here.

I'm guessing that there may have been an language barrier, plus the boys were too little to completely understand what was going on, and were likely to obey an authority figure, even if they thought something was wrong.

If they were held in the same holding room together before the flight, they may even have switched passports or something in play.

Like others, I would never send a 5 year old on a flight alone.

I would not allow my young son to travel unaccompanied but airlines have long allowed five-year-olds to travel unaccompanied. It's a very common practice actually. I'm pretty astonished at how many people want to judge the parents in this situation. Riding on the airplane with your baby on your lap is far more dangerous. Yet lots and lots of people do that and when a tragedy occurs I don't hear people blaming the parents for that.

Unaccompanied minors are supposed to be supervised by airline personnel. I don't remember how young my older dd was when we let her fly by herself to visit her grandmother. I think she might have been around 7. It was a nonstop flight from Oakland to Ontario. This was before 9/11 and all of the increased security so we were able to take her to the gate, and make sure the plane took off. At the other end her grandmother met her at the gate and had to sign for her.

Even after 9/11 when one of my dds was flying alone I was able to get a gate pass to take her to the gate and/or meet her when she arrived.