For all of us who have flown on a plane before, you know that things can get pretty hectic and busy at the airport – especially if you are in a rush, or are traveling in a big group!
There are just so many things to keep track of, both suitcases and people alike.
And it gets even harder when everyone is sleep deprived and cranky!
Because of just how hard it can be to fly with babies and young children, most people will probably opt to just stay at home and wait till their children are older before they start traveling.
Still, air travel can’t always be avoided, which is probably why this unidentified mother had boarded this flight.
She likely was heading back home after completing her pilgrimage – aka hajj – to Mecca, seeing that she was flying to the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia – a country with a Malay-Muslim majority.
(Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, as the airline has not disclosed any information about the passenger.)
Pixabay
What they have disclosed, however, is just how this woman narrowly left her baby behind in a foreign country.
A Saudi Arabian plane was supposed to take off from the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah for its destination in Kuala Lumpur when the pilots were interrupted by an insistent woman.
As it turned out, the woman was actually a mother who had accidentally forgotten about her baby somewhere in the airport!
Pixabay
Video footage that was later uploaded to YouTube showed how the pilots, the air traffic controllers, and the airport staff were all stunned by this unusual turn of events that had rapidly unfolded just shortly after takeoff.
No one had any idea what to do – the pilots couldn’t exactly continue their flight with this unwilling passenger, and the airport staff on the ground were scrambling to come up with a protocol for an event that has never before happened in their history.
In fact, the operator handling the plane had to insist the pilots confirm this was truly the case – and of course, it was, much to everyone’s befuddlement.
Still, the only humane course of action was clear – the baby ought to be reunited with its mother as soon as possible.
Once the story was clarified, air control gave the pilots the all clear to return back to Jeddah.
Pixabay
This was a story that could have ended in tears and heartbreak – should the pilots have decided to ignore their passenger, the mother would likely have never seen her baby again.
Thankfully, kindness and sympathy reigned – both airport staff and pilots worked together to ensure this mother got back to her baby without any further delay.
Thanks to the short video clip going viral, thousands upon thousands of netizens have thrown their opinions into the ring.
While some have criticized the mother for such a slip-up, it is heartwarming to see how this event has truly shown that we as people will choose to understand and help first.