by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:15 PM ET, Wed May 3, 2017
Airlines misplacing baggage is frustrating enough, but one grieving mother is accusing American Airlines of losing a bag that contained the ashes of her deceased daughter.
According to NBC News Arizona, Iddy Pierre-Canel was preparing for a flight from Baltimore, where her daughter's funeral was held, to Tucson, Arizona, on March 5, 2016, when an America Airlines employee told her to check her bag.
Pierre-Canel told employees that her daughter's ashes were in the bag and said she wanted them on the plane near her. As she prepared to board the aircraft, an airline worker picked up her bag and checked it for her, despite her wish to keep the luggage close.
[CALLOUT]
When Pierre-Canel arrived in Arizona, she could not find her checked bag, despite American employees telling her that it would be one of the first taken off the plane.
As a result of the accusations, American Airlines released a statement to 12news.com.
"When we need customers to gate check a bag, we always ask for customers to remove all valuables and important documents," the statement read.
"Had we known there were cremated ashes in the bag, we would have had her remove them or found a place for the bag. We apologized for losing the items and certainly are very sorry for her terrible loss."
[READMORE] READ MORE: Your Lost Luggage May Have Had Quite the Journey[/READMORE]
The airline went on to say that Pierre-Canel created a list of items inside her lost bag, but officials claim that the urn was not mentioned. Pierre-Canel's attorney claims the urn wasn't on the list because there was no way to place a monetary value on the ashes.
"The contract of carriage with the airline does state that valuable and invaluable property should be kept with the person in the cabin," Pierre-Canel's attorney Lorraine Morey said. "And that's exactly what my client was trying to do."
American Airlines later found and returned Pierre-Canel's luggage 19 days after the event. She has filed a lawsuit against the airline for $10 million.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
