Simple Flying - Andrews Curran
American Airlines accidentally let a 12-year-old unaccompanied minor leave a plane in Miami last week and wander the busy airport terminal alone.
According to multiple media reports, the girl was put on an American Airlines flight by her mother in Chattanooga (CHA) to fly to Miami (MIA) last week to visit her father. The 12-year-old was booked to travel as an unaccompanied minor and the parents paid the $150 premium to have the girl escorted by an American Airlines employee while in the terminals. The girl also wore a lanyard stating she was an unaccompanied minor.
All reportedly went to plan until the girl was waved off the plane in Miami along with other passengers leaving the aircraft and left to wander the terminal. American Airlines was meant to escort her off the plane and deliver her safely to her waiting father. "It turns out that the flight attendants waved her off the plane and said 'bye' and she didn't know what to do so she kept going because they were telling her 'bye' so she kept walking," the mother later said.
One hour wait to inform the mother of the missing girl
Instead, the child's mother got a call from American Airlines around an hour after the flight landed, saying they'd mislaid her 12-year-old. In American's defense, they did say they were pulling out all stops looking for her. What really riled the parents was this kid wandering around MIA alone for an hour wearing an American Airlines unaccompanied minor lanyard, and no American Airlines or any other airport employee stopped to check all was okay.
