By Cristian Santana and Daniel Arkin — NBC News
Low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has apologizedfor mistakenly boarding an unaccompanied minor on the wrong flight during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
The boy was due to fly Thursday from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. However, in the end, he was "improperly boarded" on a flight bound for Orlando, the airline explained.
"The child was always under the care and supervision of a member of the Spirit team and as soon as we discovered the error, we took immediate steps to reach out to the family and reconnect them," Spirit said in a statement.
"We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our passengers very seriously and are conducting an internal investigation," the company added. "We apologize to the family for this experience."
Spirit did not provide any information about the child or explain how the error occurred. WINK-TV, a Fort Myers television station, said the 6-year-old was flying for the first time and needed to visit his grandmother.
"I ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and asked her, 'Where's my grandson? Did they deliver it to you in Philadelphia?' She told me, 'No, I didn't have children with me,'" Maria Ramos, the boy's grandmother, told the network.
Fortunately, Ramos' grandson called her and assured her that he had landed 160 miles away. She told the station that she wants answers about what happened.
"I want them to call me and tell me how my grandson ended up in Orlando," Ramos said. "How did it happen? Were you taken off the plane? Did the flight attendant—after Mom handed him the papers—let him go alone? Did he get on the wrong plane by himself?"