The airline, Air France, said the child traveling with an adult passenger on board Monday’s Air France Flight from Istanbul to Paris did not have a valid ticket. French authorities are investigating the incident.
A passenger on an Air France flight Monday said he knew something was amiss when a woman’s carry-on bag started moving around by itself.
The cabin crew opened the bag and discovered a baby inside.
Now, French investigators say they’re trying to determine why the woman decided to sneak the baby on board Air France Flight 1891, without a valid ticket for the child. The flight had already left Istanbul on its way to Paris.
Police didn’t name the woman. The baby was 1 or 2 years old, Metro reports.
A witness told the French website planet.fr,
“The cloth bag belonged to a woman sitting at the back. At one point, she wanted to open it and somebody on the neighbouring row of seats saw that something was moving inside.”
A crew member said the passenger who spotted the bag was “very shocked,” Metro adds.
Air France says it requested “the presence of French authorities on the flight’s arrival” to deal with the matter. Flight attendants reportedly moved the woman and the baby to the front of the jet until it landed.
The woman was then arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport. French media outlets reported that the woman had been attempting to adopt a Haitian girl, said CNN. The Independent said authorities were trying to determine if the child was being smuggled into Europe by an illegal adoption ring.
