A child remained stranded aboard an Airbus A321neo at Salgado Filho International Airport on Saturday, November 14, after family members disembarked without realizing the boy was still on the jet.
Flight LA3420 operated by Latam Airlines touched down in Porto Alegre from São Paulo Guarulhos at 15h29, according to reporting from UOL. Twenty-three minutes later, with standard passenger deplaning finished, the aircraft’s captain radioed air traffic control to report the unexpected situation.
The pilot contacted the control tower at Salgado Filho International Airport to request ground support for the unattended minor. The transmission was captured by the aviation monitoring channel Spotter SBPA Live.
“Tem uma situação meio inusitada aqui. Uma família desembarcou e esqueceu o filho a bordo aqui. Aproximadamente 7 anos,” the pilot communicated to the air traffic controller, asking for a dispatcher to come to the aircraft.
“Por favor, eu preciso que um despachante venha aqui, por gentileza,” the pilot said.
The air traffic controller confirmed that a company dispatcher was called to go to the aircraft to fetch the child, noting that the parents were already waiting in the arrivals area asking for their son.
Because the arrivals area is situated on the landside of the terminal, passengers who have completed deplaning cannot re-enter the secure airside zones to retrieve forgotten items or family members. Under regulations from the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), airline ground personnel must intervene to bridge the security barrier.
Latam Airlines said that a flight attendant initially noticed the child alone inside the cabin. Crew members monitored the minor until ground staff could take custody.
“A criança foi acompanhada pela equipe da companhia e entregue em segurança à mãe, cerca de 15 minutos depois, após a confirmação do vínculo familiar,” Latam Airlines said in an official release.
The incident briefly delayed the aircraft’s scheduled return to São Paulo, pushing the subsequent departure back by approximately 20 minutes, as GZH reported. The flight was originally scheduled to depart for São Paulo at 16h10.
Neither the airline nor airport authorities have clarified how the family managed to exit the aircraft without the child, or the specific circumstances that led to the oversight.
