Parents board flight, forget toddler at airport

[Marc and Olga 0]

OTTAWA (AFP) - Tickets, check. Passports, check. Luggage, check. Baby ... oops.

ADVERTISEMENT

A family boarded a flight on Monday in westernmost Canada, and forgot their tot at the Vancouver international airport, media said Tuesday.

The 23-month-old boy's family had just arrived in Canada from the Philippines, but they were forced to repack their overweight bags before catching a connecting flight to Winnipeg, causing them to run late.

In their sprint to the gate, the family became separated.

The boy's father Jun Parreno, told local media he had thought his son was with his wife and the boy's grandparents, who ran ahead. They thought the boy was with his dad.

On the plane, the family members were seated separately and so did not immediately realize they had left the child behind.

Sometime later, a security guard found the boy, who speaks no English, wandering near the departure gate, and Air Canada officials tracked down his shocked parents on the flight.

Because the boy was so young, he was not issued a boarding pass and would have sat on a parent's lap during the flight, so airline personnel did not notice a passenger was missing.

According to the Vancouver Sun, airport security found a Tagalog-speaking Air Canada agent who looked after the child while his father flew 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) back to Vancouver to pick him up and then return to Winnipeg to rejoin the immigrant family on their first day in Canada.

The baby was kept in Air Canada's offices and staff found him some toys, said local media.

"Air Canada took good care of him," Parreno told the daily Winnipeg Free Press upon arrival. "I'm grateful."

source

[Nagishkaw 510]

They were probably in hysterics .

[Krikit 1,166]

My Mum used to forget me in town all the time when I was little. She'd be back at home making tea before she even noticed.... and that was only because someone else would ask where I was. I don't have abandonment issues at all.

[Scott & Lai 12]

[sj5 4]

They're too excited to see Canada land Edited May 14, 2008 by SJ

[Chrissy25 0]

how the heck do you forget your child....

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

[Alex & Rachel 78]

My Mum used to forget me in town all the time when I was little. She'd be back at home making tea before she even noticed.... and that was only because someone else would ask where I was. I don't have abandonment issues at all.

My family once set off on holiday in the car leaving my brother in the driveway...

[Marilyn. 340]

how the heck do you forget your child....

did you read the story? ...lol

the family got separated in the airport and each parent thought the other had the child...

Edited May 14, 2008 by MarilynP

[Sister Fracas 5]

Poor little tot, left wandering around. I don't think they are awful parents though.

[Desigal 1]

horrendous...

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

I don't think they are awful parents though.

I do.

[Krikit 1,166]

My Mum used to forget me in town all the time when I was little. She'd be back at home making tea before she even noticed.... and that was only because someone else would ask where I was. I don't have abandonment issues at all.

My family once set off on holiday in the car leaving my brother in the driveway...

I don't think they are awful parents though.

I do.

You don't have kids, do you?

[Sister Fracas 5]

I don't think they are awful parents though.

I do.

I think it's very easy to judge someone else's story from one article in a paper. Can you honestly say they did that intentionally?

[bevs 0]

it just happened they didnt even expect and want it. but hope next time they will have been seated next to each other so if ever it happen again then they notice it right away. or else better check each other company.