A six-year-old boy found himself in a real-life Home Alone type situation after he was placed on the wrong flight on his own just before Christmas.
The youngster, named Casper, was supposed to be heading out to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers from Philadelphia International Airport to see his grandmother.
But was mistakenly placed on a flight to Orlando - four hours away - instead.
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His grandmother, Maria Ramos, said she began to panic when her grandson didn’t get off the plane at Southwest Florida International Airport as planned.
With no sign of the boy, she approached a member of staff to find out what had happened.
She told WINK: “They told me, ‘No, he’s not on this flight. He missed his flight.’ 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'.”
The horrified grandmother said she was left in total panic, until her grandson had called her to let her know that he had landed safely. His bag had made it to the correct airport.
Ramos said Spirit Airlines had offered to refund her the cost of the four-hour drive but she told WINK she’s not concerned about the money, but wants to know how the mix-up happened.
She said: “I want them to call me. 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, Spirit Airlines said Casper had been supervised the entire time and that it had launched an investigation into the incident.
A spokesperson said: “On Dec. 21, an unaccompanied child traveling from Philadelphia (PHL) to Fort Myers (RSW) was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando (MCO). 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.
"We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation. We apologise to the family for this experience.”
Claire Reid