Mom says she, toddler booted from plane

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Associated Press

ATLANTA - A woman said she and her toddler son were kicked off a plane after she refused a flight attendant's request to medicate her son to get him to quiet down and stop saying "Bye bye, plane."

Kate Penland, of suburban Atlanta, said she and her 19-month-old son, Garren, were flying from Atlanta to Oklahoma last month on a Continental Express flight that made a stop in Houston.

As the plane was taxiing in Houston en route to Oklahoma, "he started saying Bye, bye plane,' Penland told WSB-TV in Atlanta. The flight attendant objected, she said.

"At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, It's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up,'" Penland told WSB-TV in Atlanta.

When Penland asked the woman if she was joking, she said the stewardess replied, "You know, it's called baby Benadryl."

"And I said, Well, I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight,'" Penland told the TV station.

Penland said other passengers began speaking up on her behalf, and the flight attendant announced they were turning around and that Penland and Garren were going to be taken off the plane.

Penland and her son were let off the plane and did not complete the trip to Oklahoma, said Kristy Nicholas, spokeswoman for Express Jet Airlines, which flies as Continental Express on behalf of Continental Airlines.

Attempts by the Associated Press to reach Penland under a telephone listing that matched her last name were unsuccessful.

"I was crying, I was upset and I was thinking, What am I going to do? I don't have anything with me, I don't have any more diapers for the baby, no juice, no milk," Penland told WSB.

Nicholas said, "We received Ms. Penland's letter expressing her concerns and intend to investigate its contents."

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/...toddler-13.html

[trueimage 0]

And the baby wasn't even bothering the other passengers????

[mendeleev 68]

Makes *me* want to fly Continental. NOT

[Niels Bohr 72]

Nobody should be treated special on a plane. If I heard a comment like that from a baby, I would not fly on that flight. Period.

Flying one plane has about 100+ passengers. If one of them panic, it becomes a chain reaction. I would rather be safe than to be sorry.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

If I heard a comment like that from a baby, I would not fly on that flight. Period.

You're a piece of #######.

[trueimage 0]

babies are innocent. It was probably the first time he had been on a plane and it was a big deal for him. He was not even crying or screaming. I think the flight staff should be discilpined and the other passengers who were not even angry about the baby should have complained that their flight was held up for putting the mother and the baby off of the plane.

[Lizzy 0]

Nobody should be treated special on a plane. If I heard a comment like that from a baby, I would not fly on that flight. Period.

Flying one plane has about 100+ passengers. If one of them panic, it becomes a chain reaction. I would rather be safe than to be sorry.

Let me get this right, you hear a baby, yes thats right a BABY saying bye bye plane and because of that you would get up from your seat and walk off the plane? Thats got to be the most idiotic thing i ever heard....... DOH.

Edited July 14, 2007 by Lizzy

[Kym 0]

Nobody should be treated special on a plane. If I heard a comment like that from a baby, I would not fly on that flight. Period.

We must be misunderstanding your meaning here...surely you don't mean this? You are blaming the baby and not the flight attendant???

We are due to fly on Express Jet come October. I certainly hope one very rude flight attendant does not represent them all!!!

[Mary Lou 681]

Well it seems the flight attendant was the only one who actually had the problem with the baby saying, bye bye plane. This was over the top kicking them off.

[William33 110]

I thought I saw this posted earlier, but I cannot find it now.

Anyway, Consolemaster, #######? Are you serious in your statement? You would exit a plane over an 18 month olds baby chatter?

Wow.

On topic, The flight attendant was an idiot, in the highest order.

[JoeMama 0]

I've never understood why there isn't a special room on a plane to isolate a situation like this, or to detain an unruly passenger, and save everyone the inconvenience of having to turn a plane around.

[William33 110]

I've never understood why there isn't a special room on a plane to isolate a situation like this, or to detain an unruly passenger, and save everyone the inconvenience of having to turn a plane around.

Um Joe, did you read the post? The "unruly" passenger is 19 months old.

[Lizzy 0]

LMAO William33

[JoeMama 0]

I've never understood why there isn't a special room on a plane to isolate a situation like this, or to detain an unruly passenger, and save everyone the inconvenience of having to turn a plane around.

Um Joe, did you read the post? The "unruly" passenger is 19 months old.

Sure I did. I wasn't talking about the baby being as "unruly". I have 3 kids. I tune out a child's voice if need be. A child saying, "Bye bye plane", wouldn't bother me a bit. The "unruly" passenger I was referring to is, for example, a disorderly drunk passenger, etc.

[sereia 0]

i wish they had a seperate room for all the screaming children to be in! somehow i always get the kids RIGHT by me either screaming their heads off or kicking my chair. this particular situation is overblown, but i do wish people had a way of making their kids behave so the rest of the plane doesn't have to suffer too.