During a Saudia Airlines flight, a mother accidentally left her infant behind at the airport, resulting in the captain having to turn the plane back.
While many mothers may have a funny story from their past, like forgetting to pick up their child from school or letting them run around a grocery store, this mother’s experience was not amusing.
She had unknowingly left her child behind in the airport boarding area, boarded the plane, and only realized her mistake after takeoff.
Thankfully, the pilot was able to make arrangements to turn the plane around.
The pilot can be heard asking air traffic control in a viral video, “May God be with us. Can we return or what? This flight has asked to return… The poor thing, a traveler left her kid in the waiting room.”
This incident is reminiscent of the plot of Home Alone, but with a much shorter timeline.
Traveling with children can be challenging and overwhelming for parents and caregivers, making it easy to make mistakes or forget things.
However, leaving your child behind at an airport is a completely different level of forgetfulness.
In 2019, a mother was on a Saudia Airlines flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After takeoff, she frantically informed the crew that she had left her infant behind in the boarding area of King Abdulaziz International Airport.
A video of the air traffic controller’s conversation with the Saudia pilot has gone viral on YouTube, with over 1.8 million views at the time of writing.
“May God be with us. Can we return or what? “In the video, the pilot inquires.
The pilot confirmed the incident to the flight crew who were initially skeptical of the story.
“As we already stated, a customer abandoned her kid in the terminal and declined to complete the trip,” the pilot explained.
The air traffic controller was taken aback by the situation but eventually gave permission for the plane to return to the gate.
“OK, return to the gate,” the operator said. “This is completely new to us!”
The plane was able to successfully turn around and return to King Abdulaziz International Airport, though many passengers onboard were unhappy with the delay.
The details surrounding how and why the mother forgot her infant have not been disclosed, leaving the public to speculate on this bizarre incident. Was she suffering from extreme sleep deprivation? Did she mistakenly believe her partner had the child? Were there other children she was focused on and accidentally left the youngest behind?
Thankfully, once the plane landed, the mother and child were reunited at the airport, and everyone returned home safely. Phew.
Social media has seen a range of reactions to the story, with some unable to comprehend how any mother could forget their child.
However, leaving a child at an airport is unimaginable for many. As one Twitter user pointed out, planes rarely take off immediately, so can you imagine waiting for a flight and not realizing your child is missing? (Did anyone else notice another unaccompanied child at the airport?)
There was even a movie made about this exact scenario: Home Alone. But that child never even made it to the airport.
While some people are quick to judge the mother as irresponsible and careless, others are more understanding, acknowledging the difficulty of keeping up with all of the demands of parenthood all the time. (This is why some people choose not to have children.)
Regardless, the most important thing is that the child is safe and sound! And one day, that child will have quite the story to tell, rivaling even Kevin McCallister’s adventures.