Screaming 3-Year-Old Ejected from Plane

Finally! For once, the rights and sanity of paying adults came first over the bratty antics of a child. Today there is no escape from hell-raising tots, even in theaters, fancy restaurants, and romantic resorts. Yes, children are wonderful, but let’s not forget that they have their place. And this time, their place was not on this flight. Kudos to AirTran for having sense, and also to the child’s parents for accepting facts.

I agree completely. Too often the rights of other PAYING adults are ignored, not only by the selfish, self centered parents of these misbahaved children but by the management of the restaurants theatres etc etc. Parents of small children should except the responsibilties of thier decision to have these mewling brats and let those of us who were smart enough not to make the assinine mistake of parenthood, have the peace we so richly deserve.

I agree 100%. Or, kids should be given drugs before boarding to allow them to sleep or at least keep them tranquilized.

I suppose it was the right thing to do… On a holiday flight I was on recently, I overheard a mother tell her husband she was about to dose their kid with cough medicine. I wonder how prevalent that practice is.

Well done. Other airlines should follow this example.

We all have the right to a peacefull, noiseless flight.

I agree 100%. Can you think of anything worse than being locked up with an annoying child for hours?

thank the lord for removing that kid.
i am a paying customer and should not have to put up with that kind of behavor.on that flight or any other flight.
many thanks TransAm

I agree 100%. As a paying customer we have the right to a nice peaceful flight.

I’m here with a different opinion. Sure, I hate to be on a flight with a screaming child, but they scream for a reason? Was she sick? Was she anxious? Could she not have been calmed down so the family could continue their journey? It’s becoming too common now for children to be ‘drugged’ with cold remedies before a flight. I see this is the Honeymoons site. You guys beware – one day you may be a parent! And they start off small and often loud.

I also agree with AirTran’s decision. I am the mother of a toddler and would have removed myself and my child from the situation before being asked to leave. I love my child and have had to take him on a flight a few times in his life. However, he has been very cooperative. If he were to scream like this child did, I would leave the plane immediately and make other arrangements to get to my destination.
I do think it is a shame that parents feel their children should live like they do, rather than adjusting their lives once they have children. I would never consider taking my child to a movie, but it seems every time my husband and I get a chance to go out alone to an “adult” dinner or movie, there is a screaming child there to ruin the evening. I wish parents would start taking responsibility and realize their lives are not the same anymore.

Thank you Air Tran. It maybe time for a nanny for this couple. When a parents speaks, a child should listen and obey. If the child was sick or anxious, that should have bben handled off the plane. Crawling under a seat, not wanting to sit down kicking , yelling and screaming are all inappropriate. There are other paying passengers on the plane

If only it was true. The family wasn’t removed because of a screaming child. All passengers must be in their seat with the seat belt fastened before the aircraft can be moved. No movement no taxi no take off.

The child started screaming when her parents attempted to strap her into the seat.

If the child cannot behave she cannot be on the plane.

parents should know that a screaming child and the inside of a plane do not mix. bless air tran

I wish they would kick off the abnoxious, annoying paying ADULTS as quickly as they apparently will children. I’ve honestly had many more flights disrupted by adults than children.

Hats off to AirTran….I’ve raised three children and never had problems like you see now, because of undisciplined kids…it’s a disgrace, not only on planes but everywhere you go…

I think its great AirTran took them off the flight. I understand sometimes kids need to fly and they can be expected to behave perfectly the whole time, but if the kid is too ill-mannered to resist kicking her parents and screaming from under a seat, then by all means, get her off the flight! Tantrums happen, but that is just unacceptable. How many people might have missed their connections if that already delayed flight waited for those parents to get their act together?

It was proper to ask the parents to exit the plane for the benefit and safety of the other passengers. However for the child bashing commentators, I have had my “peace” disturbed by far more adults. They are those who impose their intoxicated idiocy or their mobile phone conversations that everyone else does NOT want to hear on planes, restaurants, theatres, or resorts.

I agree with some of the more recent comments. While I have no problem with the airline crew ejecting this screaming child and her parents, and actually applaud them for doing so, I’d like to see more intervention with adults who misbehave. Who hasn’t had a flight made worse by some passenger who snores like a chainsaw, talks nonstop in a voice that would etch glass, or grows increasingly obnoxious with each new drink? In my experience, most tantrum-throwing children likely to settle down more quickly than their adult counterparts.

The airline did absolutely the right thing. Adults who are disruptive have been forced to leave and have even been arrested after landing. Unfortuntely this incident reflects poorly on the parenting skills of the child’s mother and father.

It is a shame that the airline compensated the family with business class tickets and reimbursed them for the flight. This can only encourage similar behavior in the future. Parents do not realize that children are actually adults in training and by not properly controlling the children they are producing an adult with the same undisciplined behavior as a child. Not only should the parents have been ejected without compensation but should have been fined as well and required to attend parenting classes.

Job well done for kicking them out of the plane. However they should have been treated the same as passengers having missed their flight. A passenger that missed their flight at no fault of the airline would not have been reimbursed. So this family having delayed and disturbed the flight are being treated as better citizens than a normal citizen who only missed the flight. This is unfair and disgusting.

Agree! How come I’m never lucky enough to have this happen when I’m on a plane with loud or/and misbehaving children? The screaming is migraine-inducing enough, but when the older ones are allowed to play loud video games with no headphones, that really get on my nerves.

Kudos to the airline! It’s long overdue. Airlines have started responding to peanut allergies, and I would LOVE them to do something to help counter the sensory overload that Aspies encounter all too easily on planes. I mean, if NTs find something annoying, spare a thought for Aspies on the plane struggling to counter sensory overload. Excessive noise from inconsiderate passengers can make flying a total nightmare. (Not to mention the issues of overdone perfumes, scented deodorants, and aftershaves!)

I think the right decision was made in removing the family from the plane. Hopefully, this will be a wake up call for irresponsible parents who think they are the only people with rights. If more businesses took the initative to see that customers rights, other than parents are supported life would be much less stressful and hectic. Kudos to AIR TRAN.

I applaud Air Tran, they are obviously unafraid of a law suit and respectful of the much coveted traveler. For me air travel has always been a very personal,internal,tranquil place without too much of the outside world interrupting. Again, I applaud their courage.

I completely agree with the AirTran decision. I have seen some reports by other news outlets where the parents complained that they were not given time to console the child, and coax her into her seat. The plane was already 15 minutes late…which means they had those 15 minutes, plus the time afforded before take-off time. The airline made the right decision–and it was a good opportunity to teach both the child and the parents that the rules have to be followed by ALL passengers.

I totally support the airline’s decision. The plane has already been delayed from taking off for 15 minutes as everyone waited for the parents to get the screaming toddler in a seat. At that point, it starts becoming missed connections, added delays on other flights, etc. The problems increase exponentially at that point. I hope other airlines follow this example, too!

I agree with Airtran. No one wants to get on a plane and hear disturbance during their trip.

The airline has the right to eject inebriated passengers, so why not include all passengers who are likely to cause problems for the staff or other passengers? I encounter crying children on planes all the time. What appalls me most is the number of parents who just ignore the behavior. And parents don’t have to sedate their children with cough medicine. How about reading to them or playing a game or bringing along a new toy or a favorite old one? (Even lollipops would help!)

I’ve been on both sides of this situation. I’m a mother of four, the youngest of whom is now 16 yo. I’ve been on flights in recent years that had fussy, noisy children. How did I feel about them? Irritated, yes. Annoyed, yes. Did I wish that they were not on the flight? Yes. BUT my overwhelming feeling was pity for the parents.

Following are two of my experiences with fussy children on airplanes and a quick story about my brother. Read on if you think that parents are always able to quiet their children. I used to fly often with my children since we lived abroad for fifteen years. I never once had one of them throw a tantrum as we boarded the plane. Although I must admit that it could have happened with an exhausted child, who probably would have fallen asleep within five minutes on my lap. (Kudos to British Airways, which I flew often when they were small. Their safety demonstration seat belts have a special loop on the back which slides onto the male end of the parent’s seatbelt to belt the child onto the parent’s lap. Other airlines should follow suit. This simple device probably would have prevented the incident that prompted this thread. The parent’s lap prevents all sorts of noise!) However, several times one or two of them would begin to cry as we ascended. Why? The child was in pain. Babies and toddlers are often unable to adjust to pressure changes as easily as older children and adults, especially if they have any congestion, hence the use of cough syrups containing decongestants by flying parents! It not only sedates the child (hopefully), but also prevents any pain that they may experience.

My first experience of this was flying with a 4yo. We took off the first time just fine, but we landed in the Bahamas to load food since there was a strike of the food handlers at our site of origination. My 4yo was sound asleep. (You never met such a sound sleeper. He once slept straight through a big earthquake. No joke! Fortunately, none of our other children repeated this characteristic.) As we ascended from the layover, he began to keen in his sleep, eventually increasing in volume to a full-blown animal-like howl at nearly his full volume. Naturally, we were frightened. What was wrong with our son? He was still asleep, and I was trying to wake him, to no avail. My fear increased. He frustrated all my efforts for several minutes. By then, we had finished ascending and stewardesses were clustered around him in the aisle. Eventually he woke, swallowed, and instantly stopped howling. One of the flight attendants explained to me about the pain. Pity the parent, who can hear the pain in his/her child’s voice and is unable to fix it.

But not every child is a good sleeper. On another journey, we were about 2 or 3 hours into the flight when my 3 month old began to fuss. She fussed and she fussed … for the remainder of the 9 hour flight. Nothing I tried calmed her. Not feeding her; not changing her; not walking her; not rocking back and forth in the seat; not decongestant; nothing. Would she sleep? No. (Little did I know that flight would set a pattern for her self-imposed rules for sleeping. Everything had to be just right for her to sleep. Otherwise, she fussed. And still does. Now in her early twenties, she wears a sleep mask and requires complete quiet to sleep.) After another 2 hours, I was exhausted and on the verge of tears myself, and the flight was not nearly over. My neighbors kept giving me dirty looks, but I had tried everything I could think of. And I kept trying. I was horribly embarrassed and so tired by the end of the flight that I could hardly face the immigration and customs lines. In fact, one of the officers suspiciously asked me what the problem was. When I explained that it was now 1 a.m. where we came from and that the baby had been crying for 7 hours, they very kindly rushed us through, for which I am forever grateful. Pity the parent whose baby will not settle down on a flight. They are TRAPPED in this tiny room with a miserable child for whom they are responsible, and their neighbors hate them. They are frustrated and DESPERATE to get off the plane!

Or consider my brother and his wife. As I recall (this happened nearly 15 years ago) she flew with their cancer-riddled, dying child to Sloan-Kettering in NY for special treatment, and my brother drove up and met them with the car, because the drive was too long for their son. Was he fussy on the flight? Probably. I haven’t asked. I always look at fussing children on a flight, knowing that I don’t know the background story.

Could my husband and I have chosen another mode of transportation? It’s hard to cross an ocean by any other method.

Could I have changed the behavior of my children? Could I have been a better parent, as many comments have implied? Well, there’s always room for improvement, but most parents are trying hard to be the best parent possible. So I say: a little sympathy is called for.

I agree with the parent above, although it could have been put in fewer words. Some sympathy is required for parents of little ones, you never know what they are going through and why. I agree with the decision of AirTran, but really people, must you be so harsh on children and their parents? Beleive me, the parent of the child is having an even harder time than you are. Just ask your parents for some horror stories about you when you were traveling, I am sure they will have plenty!

I earlier agreed it was proper to remove the parents and child who were disrupting the plane. I still do, but take issue with those who assume it is the parents parenting skills at issue. While it may very well be true they were not parents of the year (I don’t know and I don’t assume that the reporters have great insight either), I have great kids I take pains to raise right and I have been in similar situations. As the parent of a 3 year old, sometimes you will experience a melt down which cannot be avoided or ignored. There are a number of child development reasons I will not bore you with, but to ASSUME it is a bad parent or child is inane. The parent should, however, attemtp to avoid imposing their situation on others. I feel a great deal of empathy for any parent in that situation, particularly if they are attempting to return home and time is of the essence.

I didn’t see how it all went down, Air Tran probably did what they had to in this situation with not getting in her seat.
I have two small children, and know exactly how it can be in flight. I know that there has always been at least something to calm my children a little when they are upset during flight, so I feel for the one’s who can’t figure it out! We are paying customers also, and no we don’t choose to have our children uncomfortable…..but 2 hours to get on with our week vacation. It is worth it. We deserve it too. A little crying on desent until a bottle is made or until we a get a cookie out isn’t going to put anyone out that bad.
As for the one’s who feel that it is their right for peace and quiet, maybe to a point. But this especially goes out to the one who mentioned parenthood being an assinine idea. Only for your parents sir.

Outstanding…About time someone held parents accountable for the behavior of their children and considered the wellbeing of others. I’m a parent and a grandparent. When our misbehaved to the extent that it obviously disturbed others, if we couldn’t control our kids behavior, we excused ourselves. This included leaving many restaurant meals untouched, unplanned departures from relatives homes in the middle of the night and anyother occasion or circumstance where our kid’s behavior disrupted the peace and sanity of others. There are those times when the rights of others trumps those of our kids or their parents.

correct decision…

i raised five kids and could control all of them. i think the parents of that child are irresponsible for having this behavior occur in the first place. her removal was a great choice. planning a honeymoon flight my self,, airtime should be enjoyable. anne

( MR.EVAN LEWIS SOUNDS LIKE AN IDIOT.)

I don’t know why the little girl behaved as she did .
She may be claustraphobic or have some other psychological problem.
Things are not always black or white.
The involved parties may or may not have done the right thing.
For a person to condemn without complete knowledge of a situation is absolutely wrong and needs to learn to be more tolerant and understanding of how little they really know about the complete situation.
Also I believe the airline was absolutely right in making other arrangements for the family.
It was very embarrasing for the family to be sure.
Mr Evans statement should be embarrasing to him when he reads it .

Ken
PS
Maybe someday Mr. Evans will know what knowledge and understanding means.

to the perfect people above: since you are so special and have no feelings for god’s children, you should digyourself a hole ,crawl in and pull the hole in after you i think i know some of you.

You people make me laugh…in a good way. It’s funny how we all think we have the answer.
If it had been me, I would like to believe that I would have removed myself and my screaming toddler. As the parent of an often uncontrollable screamer, I can sympathize with the parents. However, I’m not sure I would’ve known that I could get a different flight once we got off the plane.
For Ms. Perfect Anne Hill, if you have all the answers for controlling kids, then you need to pass them along. I’m sure we’d all appreciate it. I bet you live in Utah, don’t you? And for all of you without kids, please spare parents the glaring, we are well aware when our child is misbehaving and the last thing we need, is your input.

I understand that it is annoying to have upset children on an airplane. I have flown with my 3 year old a few times and will be enduring a 2 hour flight with a 3 year old and an 8 month old very soon. I could choose to drive to Chicago in my car and endure countless hours of crying and fussing or a few hours and then be at my destination. I constantly worry about how my children will react on a plane. But I paid for my 3 year old to fly just like everyone else. So she has every right to be on that plane.
People need to get over this need to put down parents for these kind of things. Sure there are parents out there that need lessons in parenting but a parent on a flight with a child isn’t setting out that morning sayind gee I hope I piss a bunch of people off today. No they are thinking Lord just let me get through security and this flight in one piece.

I think the airline acted very wrong, its not like the fking plane its going to crash because of the noise, I understand that there are other paying customers but it does not give them the right to get them off the plane. Noise is in every public transportation. People who drink in a plane is way worst and potentially dangerous than a child crying .

I think this shows that parents these days need to control their childrens actions. Teach children to have maturity in their own actions, the child should be taught that in public places out bursts are not acceptable. However i believe the flight attendants should have duct taped the young childs mouth shut.

I’ll be flying airtran the next time I travel.

I agree Why should others have to put up wiht littel brats throwing tantrums and screaming ungodly and the parents have no common senses on how to control them Back in the day My father would have taken a belt to my ass He had zero tolerance any wonder Juvinile delinquency is on a up swing ever stop to think why? Its inexcusable Passengers have rigths too afer all so They’re paying thier hard earned cash to enjoy a vacation too and The stupid parents need to be considerate of others

The parents I have to fault Why should others have to put up with it for who? For what? I hada little brat screaming and throwing tantrums behind me a few years ago by the time I touched down and Got my luggage at Baggage claim my nerves were shot And bieng confined and having it shoved down my throat too I would sooner take AMTRAK and just adjourn to the enxt car than listelning to some little Mighy Mouths “R” Us If they cant behave stay the hell home