Airline error sends dog on 3000-mile trip to Hawaii

Staff at American Airlines were left red-faced when they accidentally sent a dog to Hawaii instead of Mississippi after he was placed on the wrong flight.

A Corgi bound on an American Airlines flight for Mississippi ended up 3,000 miles away in Hawaii Image by wplynn / CC BY 2.0

Bethany, the lovely Corgi, was en route with owner Paul Cheen from Dallas to their new home in Jackson. Paul arrived safely at his Mississippi destination but was distraught when there was no sign of his beloved pet.

American Airlines left red-faced after inadvertently placing a Corgi pet on wrong flight Image by Aero Icarus / CC BY-SA 2.0

Worried that she might have been stolen in transit, he immediately report the missing dog, and offered $1000 as a reward for information about her.

However the Daily Express reports that he was surprised to be told that Bethany was 3000 miles away but was not lost, just misplaced in Honolulu.

A spokesman for the carrier revealed that the Corgi had been put into the care of a veterinary surgeon once the airline had realised its error.

Apologising to Mr Cheen and his mutt, American Airlines put Bethany on a plane back to her original destination where they pledged to reunite her  with her owner.

The extra flying time didn’t seem to faze the dog with the airline spokesman adding that she enjoyed her “little bit of a vacation to Honolulu.”