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American Morning
America West Misplaces Children Traveling Alone
Aired August 06, 2001 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it has happened again. For the third time in about a month, America West Airlines has kind of misplaced children that were traveling alone on a flight. This time it happened to two sisters who were trying to get from Houston back to their home in San Diego. The sisters, 8 and 11, were flying home to San Diego from Texas on Saturday. They were placed on the wrong connecting flight. They landed at an airport near Los Angeles, Ontario, instead of San Diego.
Airline employees apologized for the mistake, drove the girls home to San Diego, reuniting them with their mother three hours later.
We have the sisters with us now, Krista Spears, her little sister Sierra -- sorry, Sierra, if you don't like me calling you the little sister there -- and mom, Michelle Spears, are with us in New York today. Ladies, good morning. Good to have you with us safe, in one place and together like you're supposed to be.
MICHELLE SPEARS, MOTHER: Well, good morning.
KAGAN: Michelle, let's start with you. Tell us the original plan, why the girls were in Texas and how they were supposed to get home to San Diego.
MICHELLE SPEARS: They went to Texas to visit their father and to just have some fun with him and then fly home and celebrate and have a good time.
KAGAN: And when did you get the first sign that something was wrong?
MICHELLE SPEARS: When they did not come off the plane. My oldest daughter...
KAGAN: Oh, you were waiting in San Diego?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Yes. My oldest daughter and I were standing there waiting for them to come off the plane.
KAGAN: Oh, that must have been an awful feeling.
MICHELLE SPEARS: Yes, it was.
KAGAN: And so you approached the gage and said where are my kids?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Yes. I went, I was standing next to the counter and I kept saying where are the kids? And they said they had no unaccompanied minors on that flight and they were trying to say I had the wrong flight at first and I...
KAGAN: It was your fault?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Yes. And I proved to them it was not and the phone calls started.
KAGAN: Yes, all right, Krista, let's go to you. So you get on the flight with your dad, or he puts you on the plane in Houston with you and your sister. And then you flew to Phoenix, which is what you were supposed to do, right?
KRISTA SPEARS, 11 YEARS OLD: Yes.
KAGAN: And then what happened from there?
KRISTA SPEARS: Then they, we had to wait and then after that they boarded us onto the plane where we were on a different plane from our luggage and we ended up -- mom, where did we end up?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Ontario.
KAGAN: You went to Ontario.
KRISTA SPEARS: Yes.
KAGAN: So did you have a feeling, Krista, even when you were on there that you were on the wrong plane, you and Sierra?
KRISTA SPEARS: Not until I found out when they said we were landing.
KAGAN: Oh, they said welcome to Ontario, California.
KRISTA SPEARS: Um-hmm.
KAGAN: So what did you do?
KRISTA SPEARS: I asked the flight attendant, are we getting on another plane to San Diego? And they said what do you mean? And I told them we were supposed to go to San Diego and they looked at our ticket and it said San Diego and they noticed that they had put us on the wrong plane.
KAGAN: So what did they tell you they were going to do at that point? Were they going to let you call your mom? Were you getting scared?
KRISTA SPEARS: Yes, I was getting scared.
KAGAN: But you were there with Sierra. Sierra, how were you doing? When did you realize that something wasn't right? Did Krista tell you that oops, I think we're on the wrong plane?
SIERRA SPEARS: Yes.
KAGAN: And was it kind of scary, because you didn't know how you were going to get home to San Diego?
SIERRA SPEARS: It was scary.
KAGAN: But you had your sister with you. I know that it's good to have your big sister there.
SIERRA SPEARS: Um-hmm.
KAGAN: So, Michelle, you finally established where the girls are.
MICHELLE SPEARS: Right.
KAGAN: And then how did they get them back to you?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Well, as soon as they realized where they were, we realized where they were heading before they landed.
KAGAN: OK.
MICHELLE SPEARS: And so as soon as they landed, I was on the phone waiting for them and they took them off the plane and brought them to the phone to talk to me. And I explained to them what had happened and that they would be coming back down from, you know, they were going to drive them down to me and that it would be a couple more hours, that, you know, they were going to get home tonight and everything was going to be OK.
KAGAN: So they did get the girls home safely. But overall, how do you think America West handled the situation?
MICHELLE SPEARS: The women that were at the counter were helping me. They were great. They, you know, really were trying to find out what happened, where the kids were. But the whole thing should have never happened.
KAGAN: Yes. And as we mentioned, this is the third time that it's happened to some kinds on America West.
MICHELLE SPEARS: I didn't know that.
KAGAN: When you were having the kids travel back and forth?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Right.
KAGAN: Have they done this before? Have they traveled to Texas to see their dad?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Not alone, no.
KAGAN: No. You know, America West is changing this policy as of September. They wouldn't let your kids do, coming in September, what they just did if they're 11 or under. They can't fly unaccompanied if they have to change planes. Do you think that's a good idea, to change their policy?
MICHELLE SPEARS: I think it's a great idea. I mean, you know, they were supposed to be escorted and I was reassured that everything would be OK. And I was nervous about them changing planes, but, you know, thinking that they're going to be escorted from one place to another, everything would be OK. But I think it's a great idea not to let little kids go anymore that are, you know, any connecting flights.
KAGAN: So are you going to change some future plans for the girls, their travel plans?
MICHELLE SPEARS: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
KAGAN: Either they fly with an adult or they...
MICHELLE SPEARS: Or they don't fly.
KAGAN: ... they fly direct. Or fly direct.
MICHELLE SPEARS: Yes.
KAGAN: Well, Krista and Sierra, I want to thank you for telling us your story and I'm glad you guys are safe and I'm glad you're with your mom and it looks like you handled ourselves very well.
MICHELLE SPEARS: Thank you.
KAGAN: Krista and Sierra Spears and their mom Michelle Spears, thank you very much. And good luck getting home safely to San Diego.
I also want to let you know that we did contact America West Airlines and ask them to comment. We're still waiting to hear from them. When we do get those comments, we'll bring those to you here on CNN.
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