Spirit Airlines Puts Unaccompanied 6-Year-Old Boy on Wrong Flight
The boy, named Casper, was traveling from Philadelphia to Fort Myers, Fla., but somehow ended up in Orlando last week
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A 6-year-old unaccompanied boy who was traveling to visit his grandmother was incorrectly boarded on a plane and landed at the wrong airport in Florida last week, according to multiple reports.
The boy, who intended to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers on Spirit Airlines, was later found safe in Orlando — about an hour’s flight away — after the incident on Dec. 21, according to CBS affiliate WINK-TV and CNN.
The boy’s grandmother, Maria Ramos, said she went to the Fort Myers airport to meet her grandson Casper. She was able to find his luggage, but couldn’t find the boy.
“They told me, ‘No, he’s not on this flight. He missed his flight,’ " Ramos recalled to WINK. “I said, ‘No, he could not miss his flight because I have the check-in tag,' I ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and I asked her, ‘Where’s my grandson? He was handed over to you at Philadelphia?’ She said, ‘No, I had no kids with me.' ”
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Shortly afterward, Ramos received a phone call from Casper, who told her he had landed in Orlando, Ramos told the news station.
Now, the grandmother said she wants answers about how her grandson’s first trip on an airplane turned into what she told WINK was one of the scariest incidents she has ever experienced.
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“I want them to call me,” she told the station about the airline. “Let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando. How did that happen? Did they get him off the plane? The flight attendant – after mom handed him with paperwork – did she let him go by himself? He jumped in the wrong plane by himself?”
In a statement obtained by multiple outlets including CNN, WINK and CBS News, the airline apologized for the mix-up.
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“On Dec. 21, an unaccompanied child traveling from Philadelphia (PHL) to Fort Myers (RSW) was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando (MCO),” the statement reads. “The child was always under the care and supervision of a Spirit Team Member, and as soon as we discovered the error, we took immediate steps to communicate with the family and reconnect them.”
The company added that it was now conducting an internal investigation into the matter.
Spirit Airlines did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.
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