JVPhoto

The passport was eventually found on the luggage belt somewhere in the bowels of MAN.
So if the belt is behind the podiums then the agent somehow placed it on the bag/belt and it got taken away when they checked the first bag.
If it's one of those where the conveyer sits flush with the counter and you can place it on there and then it gets whisked away there is some possibility of blame that a family member could have set it on that type of belt.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Or passenger could have placed bag on belt (I'm assuming MAN has set-up where agent sits at desk and doesn't have to lift bags after passengers place bag on belt) and passenger was holding bag with same hand as passport and mistakenly let go of both. Again - anyone who can say with certainty what happened w/o being there and seeing what happened is being untruthful.

Silver Fox

Might be worth seeing if they have CCTV to see if that sheds light on it.

drewguy

Wouldn't work if it was the minor's . . . and perhaps the grandparent as well.

JVPhoto

Seems like it is an airport where the passenger places the bag on the belt and it's not all behind the podium.

http://media.finnair.com/Rethink/qua...blog65pix2.jpg

Flyer420

In general, the British press has been full of reports on the extensive inadequacies of the agency that issues passports. If the same agency is the point of contact for emergency replacements, I wonder if this reasonable suggestion would, in fact, be practicable.


Flyer 420
in Seattle

luv2ctheworld

The article indicates the pp was found on a baggage carousel, which sounds like it was in a public area. So it may be possible for anyone, including a family member to drop it there after realizing the ruckus caused originally.

Not saying they did or UA is at fault, but there's quite a few variables here to allow for deviation from the original story.

Loren Pechtel

Except the passport was seen at the counter. It was the UA agent that dropped it.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

And you were there and saw that? That is how you can state that as a fact? Amazing.

Also: "Except the passport was seen at the counter". Nowhere in the story does it say the passport was seen at the counter, if you care to read it again. A security guard saw the passport. The security guard checks passports BEFORE they get to the counter. So, the passengers had the passports BEFORE they got to the counter.

I'm not willing to state factually (unlike some who do without first-hand knowledge) who is at fault. Maybe it's the agent's fault, maybe a family member's. None of us can really say definitively who is at fault.

Off topic (mostly) - "Kettle" is a derogatory term for a less-travelled passenger based on the American cultural icons Ma and Pa Kettle. Is there a British equivalent?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I bet it wouldn't get lost at a time similar to when the photo was taken

bmwe92fan

I fly in and out of MAN twice and month and have for three years - the UA people there are very good and I know them all quite well (they have only two flights per day so you see the same people checking you in at the gate and then at the gate and then on the plane).

The security guard checks your passport and asks a lot of questions before you can even get up to the counter - and lately it is a lot more intense given the threat level in the UK - so to me it's likely the passport made it to the counter... That's where it gets less clear - at MAN the UA counters use a ramp system where the bag is pulled up net to the agent sitting behind the counter - a passenger could easily put their passport on the luggage and it get's pulled up and it drops - or the agent could have taken it and dropped it - who knows???

I'm willing to bet UA will do something to make it right...

bajrbajr

I don't consider it derogatory.

Tchiowa

"And subsequently went missing"??? I'm calling BS. The TA is holding the passport right in front of you while you're checking in. It's not like they hold it until you land. It the TA handed back the passports and the family didn't check them, shame on them.

buckeyefanflyer

You would think in the case of a missing passport someone would be able to verify the person has a valid passport and as long as they have a ID to let them take the trip. I am sure people who are already on there trip have lost passports so in this case they are not allowed to fly home until they get a replacement. Things happen.

sgfood

This story is over a week old. The BBC article adds a few extra facts;

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-29762691