This had to happen eventually and over the weekend it finally did. In a scene straight out of "
Home Alone 2," busy parents at a crowded air terminal got on a plane - and left one of their kids behind.
It happened Sunday at
Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, when a couple rushing to make a flight to Europe struggled with their 18 suitcases, their duty free purchases and their five children, all in a mad dash to get everyone on board for a trip to Paris. They made it with not a lot of time to spare during one of the country's busiest travel days and the plane took off.
But the parents didn't notice something important they left behind - their three-year-old daughter. They'd accidentally left her wandering by herself through the terminal, crying because she'd 'lost' her mummy and daddy.
How could it happen? It turns out the unnamed parents each thought the other one was looking after the child and got on the aircraft apparently secure in the knowledge that the kid was being tended to.
Authorities found the sniffling child in the duty-free section when she came up to a police officer on duty.
"A very cute little girl grabbed my leg and asked 'where are my parents, where are my brothers?'" the female cop told an Israeli newspaper. "I saw her parents and brothers were on a plane that was set to take off in three minutes.
"I ran quickly because I knew that every minute mattered," the officer remembers. "At the same time, the police tried to contact the flight attendants to get them to stop the plane. When I reached the gate, the plane was no longer there."
Meanwhile, onboard, the parents were apparently oblivious to the unfolding drama back home. The stunned mom and dad didn't discover their mistake until 40 minutes into the flight - and only because staff came over to tell them about it.
The child was flown to Paris on a separate plane, accompanied by an airline representative, and reunited with her embarrassed and distraught parents. Relatives can't quite fathom what happened, with the girl's grandmother calling her folks "very responsible and organized, top-notch people. Apparently one relied on the other, and this is what happened."
Despite the apparently happy ending, it likely won't be much of a vacation for the family. Cops are waiting to question the mother and father when they return and say they could be charged with parental negligence.
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