Another seemingly case of parental negligence happened at an airport, wherein an Israeli couple bound for Europe, remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases but forgot their 3-year-old-daughter.

The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate.  Their daughter got lost during the confusion.

A policeman found the girl wandering in the duty-free area at Ben-Gurion airport, Israel’s bustling main international air portal.  He said the officer alerted the airline staff, but the flight had already taken off, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Israeli media said that the incident happened during the busiest days of the years at the Israeli airport, with thousands of people leaving for summer vacations abroad.  The Haaretz newspaper reported that 2.6 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport in July and August, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year.  Israeli media said the parents of the forgotten girl were an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple but did not give their names.

Rosenfeld said the parents were unaware they had boarded the aircraft with only four children instead of five until they were informed by cabin staff after 40 minutes in the air.  Rosenfeld said police would question the couple when they return from vacation, on suspicion of parental negligence.

The Haaretz newspaper recounted that several days ago, an 8-year-old boy traveling alone boarded a flight to Brussels instead of Munich, and two weeks before that, a 10-year-old boy was left behind when the rest of his group flew to Copenhagen.