Saudi plane turns back to airport after mother forgets baby and leaves it behind in airport waiting area
- Incident was a first for air traffic controllers, who can be heard discussing how to deal with the problem
A Malaysia-bound plane had to turn back to Saudi Arabia after a passenger realised she had left her baby in the terminal.
The pilot made the unusual request to return to the airport in Jeddah soon after take-off when the passenger told cabin crew she had forgotten her child.
A video of the pilot calling into air traffic control reveals the unusual exchange between him and the operators, as he asks for permission to go back to King Abdulaziz airport.
“May God be with us. Can we come back?” the pilot asks. The situation, seemingly a first for the air traffic controllers, leaves the operator confounded and he can be heard conferring with others over the appropriate action.
“This flight is requesting to come back,” he tells another colleague. “A passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing.”