Curious toddler hitches a ride on luggage conveyor belt in Atlanta airport, video shows
Toddlers are naturally curious, and what 2-year-old could resist the allure of an airport luggage conveyor belt.
In a video released Thursday, one such toddler plays around the conveyor belt as his mother checks in for a Spirit Airlines flight.
The boy walks behind the counter and tests the moving belt with his foot before climbing aboard. He was quickly swept out of view by a bag and into the recesses of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Someone points from off screen and an employee looks down the luggage belt and stops it from moving.
Cut to camera number 2 and the boy falls into view just before the belt goes into what appears to be a large x-ray machine. He tries to climb over bags and suitcases but he’s swept into the imposing machine.
The next shot shows the boy riding down the luggage belt through parts of the Atlanta airport most people never see.
And in the final scene, you see Transportation Security Administration employees jump up from their seats as the boy comes down a ramp. They rush to grab the boy.
The boy’s mother, Edith Vega, said she put him down to print their boarding passes and he slipped away, according to WGXA.
“When I tried to go after him, it was the end of the machine. He just went a long ride away. I couldn’t even catch up,” she told the station.
An Atlanta police report said the child had a “severely swollen and bruised” hand and was treated by emergency medical services on the scene, NBC News reports.
Vega told WSB-TV the boy’s hand was fractured after his five-minute ride down the luggage belt.
“I just went blank,” Vega told WSB-TV. “I was, like, ‘Hey, my son...’ I wanted to jump in and try to go get him but they didn’t allow me. I was just freaking out and I’m, like, ‘Oh my goodness, I hope he’s OK. I hope he’s just enjoying the ride.’”
This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Curious toddler hitches a ride on luggage conveyor belt in Atlanta airport, video shows."
