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12th Mar 2019

Flight forced to turn back and land after mum forgets baby at airport

The woman told flight attendants once she realised what had happened.

Wayne Farry

The woman left her baby at an airport in Saudi Arabia.

A plane flying from Saudi Arabia for Malaysia was forced to turn around after a woman realised that she had forgotten her baby at the the airport.

The pilot made the request that he be allowed come back and land at King Abdelaziz airport in Jaddah.

Video footage of the pilot explaining the unusual incident to air traffic controllers shows him asking if he has permission to turn the plane around and retrieve the child.

He had been made aware of the baby after its mother told flight attendants.

“May God be with us. Can we come back?” he is heard asking air traffic controllers, who are then heard discussing the bizarre request.

Another person can then be heard saying: “This flight is requesting to come back. A passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing.”

“I told you, a passenger has left her baby in the terminal and she is refusing to continue the flight,” the pilot then repeats to colleagues.

After a pause, air traffic controllers can be heard giving the green light for the pilot to turn around.

“OK, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us.”

The mother and baby were reunited at the airport, but it remains unclear whether the plane had taken off, or if it was merely preparing to take off on the run way.