An adorable, half dollar-sized turtle is lucky to be in the loving home of her 10-year old owner rather than the city of Atlanta’s waste management system after a series of confounding events consigned the creature to a trash can at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Ten-year-old Carley Helm thought it was OK to bring her new friend Neytiri back with her on a flight from Atlanta to her home in Milwaukee. And so did AirTran Airways personnel — at first, that is.

But just as the plane was making its way out of the gate, flight attendants pulled an about-face and ordered Neytiri off the plane, citing company policy.

Carley’s 22-year-old sister Rebecca looked on as her little sibling wept, and faced with an agonizing choice: What to do with Neytiri? She eventually placed the turtle, tank and all, in a trash can, hoping her father could come back to the airport and retrieve it.