Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Lawsuit Accuses JetBlue Of Causing Horror & Mental Anguish With Child Travel Mixup
By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 30, 2016
Modified Sep 30, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 30, 2016
Modified Sep 30, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Manhattan mother of a 5-year-old boy who was mistakenly put on the wrong international flight by himself has rejected a $10,000 "gift" offer from JetBlue and is instead suing their airline for negligence. In a lawsuit filed today, Maribel Martinez is seeking unspecified damages after her son Andy was placed on the wrong flight leaving the Dominican Republic and ended up at Boston's Logan Airport when he was supposed to arrive at JFK.
"I thought he was kidnapped," Martinez, 38, told the Daily News earlier this month. "I thought I would never see him again." After it became clear that Andy was not on his intended flight, a panicked Martinez alerted JetBlue staff, demanding to know where her son had gone. The airline's staff then reportedly presented her with a different young boy who was carrying her son's passport. The child was a stranger to Martinez.
In her lawsuit, Martinez describes her experience as one of “emotional distress, extreme fear, horror, mental shock, mental anguish and psychological trauma."
It took three hours until the mix-up was solved—Martinez's son and the other young boy were mistaken for one another at Cibao Airport in Santiago, and Andy was ultimately found safe in Boston. Following the incident, JetBlue launched an internal investigation into how the mistake took place at the request of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who is representing Martinez, told the News his client's lawsuit was filed out of a lack of faith of the company's own self-inquiry and aims “to shine a light on what occurred to prevent it from happening again."
"Any parent can understand the terrifying fear a mother goes through knowing that her child is missing," Rubenstein told the tabloid in a previous interview. "This never should have happened and the JetBlue employees should be ashamed of themselves."
When asked about the incident, a spokesperson for JetBlue told Gothamist the company does not comment on pending litigation.
Tagged
jetblue
Maribel Martinez
unaccompanied minors
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Bronx man wakes up to a $39K nightmare after online meetup at hotel, NYPD says
Police say a man fell asleep and woke up to find his cash, car and phone missing.
By
Charles Lane
Published Nov 4, 2026 at 4:43 p.m. ET
Brace for bus and bike lane boom following NYC ballot approval
Supporters and foes of street safety projects agree that more of them are now on the horizon.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
Brace for bus and bike lane boom following NYC ballot approval
Supporters and foes of street safety projects agree that more of them are now on the horizon.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
NY appeals court strikes down Nassau County's ban on transgender athletes
By
Giulia Heyward
Four takeaways after Democrats’ big night in New York
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Elizabeth Kim
NYC wins court fight over rollout of pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes
By
Giulia Heyward
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .