Air traffic controllers weren't quite sure they were hearing a pilot correctly who requested to return to King Abdul Aziz International Airport after the plane had just left. It sounded like the pilot was requesting to return for a baby.
Over the weekend, Flight SV832 from Jeddah to Kuala Lampur had just taken off when a Saudi mother realized she forgot her baby in the boarding area at the terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport. She informed the cabin crew and requested they turn back.
The incident went viral after a video was posted on social media that shows the pilot requesting permission from air traffic controllers to return to the airport. The ATC operators were so dumbfounded by the request that they were frantically trying to figure out the protocol for such an incident.
In the video, the pilot is heard saying, "May God be with us. Can we come back or what?"
The operator asks another colleague about the protocol saying, "This flight is requesting to come back…a passenger forgot her baby in the waiting area, the poor thing."
The operator then asks the pilot to re-confirm his request.
The pilot says, "We told you, a passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight."
Air traffic controllers finally reply, "Ok, head back to the gate. This is totally a new one for us!"
It's unclear what happened after the flight returned to the airport, in terms of the mother and the child, though the pilot was praised on social media for his timely action.
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