Israeli Airline Turns Plane Around After Young Passenger With Cancer Forgets Passport

An Israeli airline turned their plane around earlier this month after one of their young passengers, an 11-year-old girl with cancer, forgot her passport.

Inbar Chomsky was travelling to the United States to attend Camp Simcha, in New York, which is a retreat designed specifically for ill children.

However, when she boarded the El Al flight, she soon realised that she had lost her passport and that she would now need to get off the plane.

A senior counselor, who had gathered each passport, realised that Inbar’s was missing. This lead the staff to desperately search the aircraft for close to 25 minutes, however despite their frantic efforts they were still unable to locate the passport.

Because of this predicament, Inbar was then forced to leave the plane, and she looked destined to miss her flight.

The plane then departed and flew into the air, leaving Inbar on the ground devastated.

Rabbi Yaakov Pinsky, who helped to orchestrate the trip, wrote in Yeshiva World News, “It wasn’t enough that she has cancer, but now Inbar was facing another horrible disappointment in her life.”

However, just a few minutes into the flight another camper soon located the missing passport in another girl’s backpack, and quickly notified flight attendants, who went and told the pilots.

They then contacted flight control, who decided to turn the plane around and to pick up Inbar who was waiting patiently at the terminal. The airline admitted that this is an unprecedented move, and every passenger endorsed the pilots decision 100%.

Pinksy wrote, “Inbar couldn’t believe it. Her dream came true! Those of us on the plane experienced something as well. Instead of the hostility that usually greets a plane delay, there were cheers and tears on that El Al plane, flight 007. Passengers and crew shared Inbar’s happiness and excitement.”

[Image via Asaf Eliason/Shutterstock]