Parents in Dark as Unaccompanied Florida Children Fly Southwest

(Aug. 13) -- Three young Floridians -- 15-year-old Bridget Brown, 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III, and Bridget's 11-year-old brother -- used $700 worth of Bridget's baby-sitting money to take a flight on Southwest Airlines. They bought their tickets, took a cab to Jacksonville International Airport and flew to Nashville, Tenn.

The parents were oblivious to their children's travel plans until they received calls from them. The children's final destination was to be Dollywood, Tenn., which they didn't realize was another four-hour drive from the airport. The escapade was cut short Tuesday when the minors contacted their parents.

"It's got to be tough for those parents to hear about this because you try the best you can to make sure they're safe," Florida Department of Children and Families' public information officer John Harrell told AOL News.

The children say they were never asked for identification.

Southwest Airlines has a lengthy list of regulations regarding flying by unaccompanied minors. Its policy only applies to minors from age 5 to 11. Southwest officials didn't return a call from AOL News for comment, but they could argue that the 11-year-old was with two older minors.

The airline's policy states that proof of age may be required, a $50 charge must be paid for children traveling alone, a flight attendant must be introduced to any unaccompanied minors on the flight and, upon arrival, the unaccompanied children must be handed to a "designated" person specified on an unaccompanied minor form or from one Southwest Airlines employee to another.

"This definitely does serve as a wake-up call for parents, that they need to closely watch their children and be in communication with them," Harrell said. "Parents need to be listening to their children. If there are open lines of communication that parents have with their kids, then things like this could've been prevented."

"You can still have communication and trust, and something like this can happen," he added. "But it's going to minimize the possibility of something like this happening."

As a minor, maybe it's exciting and fun to declare your freedom by running around an airport, breaking into terminal eateries to get cold pizza, taking a ride on the security cart, rummaging through lost luggage items, making friends with other underage kids, and then being forgiven and loved in the end despite all the mess and worry caused (basically the plot to "Unaccompanied Minors").

But this wasn't a Hollywood movie. In reality, flying as an unaccompanied minor has serious consequences.

"Unfortunately, there are people out there who want to take advantage of children," Harrell said. "We're certainly glad they weren't harmed and we're relieved that they are safe with their families."