Skip navigation
sponsored by 

Two girls placed on wrong flights over weekend

Continental says it’s making sure procedures are followed after mix-ups

Video
  Airline takes child to wrong state
June 17: Wendy Babineaux tells MSNBC's Tamron Hall flight attendants are to blame for her 8-year-old daughter's arrival in Arkansas instead of her intended destination, saying she's never seen such incompetence.

MSNBC

Slideshow
Obama Family To Spend Summer Vacation On Martha's Vineyard
  Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard
President Barack Obama and his family will visit Martha's Vineyard during the last week of August. Take a visual tour of some of the island’s better-known draws.

more photos

Slideshow
Image: The Sacred Heart (Sacre Coeur) is seen in Paris
  Perfectly Paris
A magical city known as the ‘City of Love’ and the ‘City of Light’, Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

more photos

Slideshow
Image: Bay of Fundy
  Wonders of Nature
These 28 spectacular natural landmarks will be considered and voted for – or against – and come 2011, only a handful will be designated the “New 7 Wonders of Nature.”

more photos

  Big changes in store for Oprah?
Nov. 8: Is the queen of daytime television preparing to give up her popular talk show to focus on her own cable network? NBC’s Kevin Tibbles reports, then Rolling Stone contributor Toure and CNBC’s Carmen Wong Ulrich join Jenna Wolfe to discuss the financial and cultural impact of a potential move.

updated 4:33 p.m. ET June 17, 2009

HOUSTON - Continental Airlines said it has taken steps to ensure that proper procedures are followed after two unaccompanied girls were placed on wrong Continental Express flights over the weekend.

An 8-year-old College Station girl erroneously ended up in Fayetteville, Ark., and a 10-year-old Massachusetts girl was mistakenly sent to Newark, N.J., after boarding planes operated by ExpressJet, which is under contract with Continental.

Houston-based Continental said in a statement Tuesday that the mix-up was a "miscommunication among staff."

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

"I have never seen so much incompetence in all my life," Wendy Babineaux told the Houston Chronicle. Her daughter was headed to Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday to see her father. She was sent to Fayetteville, back to Houston and then to Charlotte.

Babineaux's attorney, Wayne T. Rife, told The Associated Press Tuesday night that his client became worried when the girl's father called to find out where their child was. He said his client is concerned about how Continental Airlines handled the situation.

"It was just a complete breakdown in the procedures that were supposed to be implemented," Rife said. "And, in Mrs. Babineaux's perspective, Continental, to this point, has not taken it seriously."

On Sunday, Jonathan Kamens said he put his daughter, Miriam, on a Cleveland-bound flight at Logan Airport in Boston to visit her grandparents. He told WBZ-TV that shortly after the plane landed in Ohio, his father-in-law called saying she had not arrived.

Kamens said for 45 minutes no one could tell him where his daughter was. She was finally located unharmed in Newark.
Video
  Dad furious airline put girl on wrong flight
June 16: "She's not on the plane?" the Boston man said as he retold the story. "What do you mean she's not on the plane? I put her on the plane." WHDH-TV's Kim Khazei reports.

NBC News Channel

Kamens said the number of people who failed to do their jobs is "mindboggling."

Continental spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said in an e-mailed statement that in both instances flights with different destinations were being loaded at the same time from the same doorway and there was miscommunication among staff members.

"In both circumstances the children were supervised throughout the entire process and were rebooked and routed to the proper destinations on the same day," Cripe said in the statement.

Kamens said on his blog that the airline offered him a $75 refund.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide