Mix-up sends girl to Detroit, not Maine

BRADFORD, Pa. – A 9-year-old girl traveling to her grandmother’s house in Maine ended up in Detroit instead.

Don Ulin and his wife put their daughter, Alex, on a United Airlines flight from Buffalo, N.Y. She flew to Washington, D.C., where she was supposed to get on a plane for Portland, Maine, but was put on a plane to Detroit.

Ulin said someone was supposed to escort his daughter from plane to plane but sent her to the wrong location. Alex made it to Maine, but three hours late.

Jenna Obluck, a United Airlines spokeswoman, said the company’s procedures for unaccompanied minors were not followed and the airline was investigating what happened.

Ulin said two planes were leaving from the same gate. He also said the airline is helping his family, but he was driving to pick up his daughter in South Bristol, Maine, instead of letting her fly home.