Toddler gets kicked off airplane
By ersmommy1
@ersmommy1 (12588)
United States
June 25, 2008 1:24pm CST
Most toddlers are not good fliers. At least not in my experience. But after reading this I was shocked with the treatment this poor lady received.
As the American Eagle flight headed down the taxiway, two-and-a-half-year-old Jarett Farrell wasn't a happy traveler.
His mother says she was doing all she could to calm the autistic boy, but got no sympathy from the flight crew.
Flight attendant and pilot made things worse Tugging on seat belts, yelling at him. I think this is awful. Poor little guy has a disability and strangers are getting in his face. American Airlines should be ashamed.
Just my Opinion
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6223045
2 people like this
3 responses
@Lavender_Breeze (373)
• United States
28 Jun 08
Personally, I think they did the right thing, barring the announcement of the 'woman with a child....' over the intercom. That was not necessary.
Just because the child has special needs does not make it right for everyone on board to have a miserable flight. They paid as much for their seats as she did. Perhaps, knowing his limitations, she should have arranged for other transportation. I feel for her, in that the flight crew did not understand how to deal with her child. But in the end, I believe the flight crew made the right decision.
2 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
30 Jun 08
I have a autistic nephew on my husbands side and I am outraged that something like this has happened to this child. I have learned that yelling and doing what they did only makes them worse. They needed to talk in a calm,slow rational manner. I would seriously be sueing a airline if it was me. My nephew gets a little freaked when he gets unknown visitors imagine his trauma of being around a whole air line full of people. I feel they didn't treat him with the compassion needed to handle and control the situation.
1 person likes this
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
25 Jun 08
I smell a law suit in there somewhere. Its a shame that the flight crew didn't take into consideration his disability on top of his age. And parents of children like this are just not supposed to fly commercial airlines at all? This is discrimination plain and simple, and if I were this mother I would definitely be suing American Airlines for such.
1 person likes this
