United flight diverted after dog loaded onto wrong flight, airline says
A United Airlines flight from Newark to St. Louis was diverted Thursday when crew members realized they had loaded a dog into the cargo that should be going to Akron, Ohio, the airline said. The flight diverted to Akron to reunite the dog with its owners.
United said the pet was delivered safely to its owner and all the customers on board received compensation for the diversion.
It's one of several mishaps this week involving United Airlines. On Wednesday, the airline said it was investigating after a dog was mistakenly flown to Japan. According to CBS affiliate KCTV, Kara Swindle was flying into Kansas City Tuesday night, accompanied by her two children and Irgo, the family's German shepherd. Or so they thought.
Upon landing in Kansas City, the family went to a cargo facility to pick up 10-year-old Irgo, a German shepherd, but were instead given a Great Dane. Swindle, of Wichita, Kansas, learned Irgo had been put on a flight to Japan, where the Great Dane was supposed to go. The airline said the kennels were similar.
Irgo was reunited with its family after a flight on a private plane that United chartered from Japan.
And on Monday, a United Airlines flight attendant forced a passenger to load a French bulldog carrier into an overhead bin during the three-and-half hour trip from Houston to New York's LaGuardia Airport.
United Airlines issued a statement accepting full responsibility for the incident, which it says is under investigation.
