Mom says she, toddler booted from plane

[Niphredil 0]

There HAS to be more to this.

I do not see a Captain, Co-pilot, ground staff and air traffic control A-Okaying a plane taxi-ing BACK because a baby is cooing 'Bye Bye Plane', all on the say so of a flight attendant...

An obnoxious 'BYEBYEPLANEBYEBYEPLANEBYEBYEPLANEBYEBYEPLANE' perhaps, but as it stands, it smells fishy...

[Marilyn. 340]

this artice has a bit more detail... it seems like the attendant was in a pissy mood...

A mother and her son were booted off a plane after a flight attendant became upset when the 19-month-old kept saying "Bye, bye plane" as the aircraft prepared for liftoff.

Kate Penland and her son, Garren, thought they were finally homebound when they boarded a Continental ExpressJet flight from Houston to Atlanta after an 11-hour delay at Bush Intercontinental Airport last month.

As an attendant reviewed the flight safety instructions, Garren began to bid Houston adieu.

"There was a plane next to us, and I pointed it out to Garren, and he started saying 'Bye, bye plane,' over and over," Penland said.

Distracted and upset by the boy's words, the flight attendant went over to Penland after completing her safety demonstration.

"She leaned over the gentleman who was sitting next to me, and she said, 'OK, it's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up," Penland said.

Penland said she told the flight attendant that she expected her child to fall asleep momentarily.

"'It doesn't matter. Regardless, I don't want to hear it,'" Penland said the flight attendant told her.

"'It's called Baby Benadryl,'" Penland said the attendant told her, suggesting she give her child allergy medication to help him fall asleep fast.

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

The discussion continued and very quickly what started as an unpleasant flight for Penland and Garren became no flight at all.

'Embarrassing,' Says Mom

The flight attendant told the captain that Penland had threatened her, and the captain agreed to taxi the plane back to the gate, where mother and child were told to disembark.

Other passengers who witnessed the argument were stunned, and came to Penland's defense.

Fellow passenger Sandy Taylor said the flight attendant came back and "in a real arrogant way she says, 'We're going back to the gate.'"

Stacey Watts said the attendant told Penland, "If you do not leave the aircraft voluntarily — the authorities have been called — the police will come and remove you from the plane."

By the time the plane had taxied to the gate, Garren was fast asleep, Penland said.

They were still forced off the plane, and Penland and Garren were left to fend for themselves and find a place to sleep.

ExpressJet spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said that if a passenger is understood to be compromising the safety of passengers or crew, or if a passenger undermines a crew member's "authority as the person responsible for safety" on board, they may be removed from the aircraft.

But Penland denied that she had ever threatened the flight attendant or that she or Garren had posed a threat to the security or comfort of the flight.

"It was embarrassing," said Penland, who was not arrested nor ticketed after the incident, to ABC13-TV in Houston. "I felt helpless."

The airline later said in a statement to "Good Morning America": "Customer service and safety are our top priorities and we take any complaints about these issues seriously."

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3371901...TC-RSSFeeds0312

[Niphredil 0]

... aside from lying her ### off to said people :\

I wonder if she just got from a flight that had a REALLY annoying kid. Of course though, thats not this woman's fault :\

[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.

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.

Roger that Bro.

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.

Separate room, on a plane? Where exactly? The lavatory?

Children and infants are in "learning" mode. If you have a child, you understand that you cannot always control outbursts. If not, consider it a fact of life.

I have been on very long international flights with screaming kids, but I understand their pain. I feel it also, but as an adult, I know how to deal with it. Very young people do not. Not bad parenting, just a learning curve we all go through.

As described in the original article, sedation is a ridiculous solution. In fact, the ones that complain need a tranquilizer, or two.

[trueimage 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.

Roger that Bro.

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.

Separate room, on a plane? Where exactly? The lavatory?

Children and infants are in "learning" mode. If you have a child, you understand that you cannot always control outbursts. If not, consider it a fact of life.

I have been on very long international flights with screaming kids, but I understand their pain. I feel it also, but as an adult, I know how to deal with it. Very young people do not. Not bad parenting, just a learning curve we all go through.

As described in the original article, sedation is a ridiculous solution. In fact, the ones that complain need a tranquilizer, or two.

I like your thinking

[Lance27 19]

Separate room, on a plane? Where exactly? The lavatory?

Children and infants are in "learning" mode. If you have a child, you understand that you cannot always control outbursts. If not, consider it a fact of life.

I have been on very long international flights with screaming kids, but I understand their pain. I feel it also, but as an adult, I know how to deal with it. Very young people do not. Not bad parenting, just a learning curve we all go through.

As described in the original article, sedation is a ridiculous solution. In fact, the ones that complain need a tranquilizer, or two.

Agreed... I was on a transatlantic flight not too long ago with my 17 month old and I know the pain she must have gone through. Its not like the child was screaming profanity or being a brat. I really hope that flight attendant gets disaplined for her actions.

[trueimage 0]

I think it should be the whole staff. I mean, she didn't turn that plane around. The pilots obliged her. Just my opinion.

[homesick_american 1]

I think it should be the whole staff. I mean, she didn't turn that plane around. The pilots obliged her. Just my opinion.

The pilots only get to hear her version of the story; once the plane pushes back the cockpit is sterile and nobody goes in except for in emergencies. It's not like the passenger could go up there to tell her version of the story. The pilot is almost always going to take the FA's side in a situation like this because the FA is the one relaying the information and pilots are pretty much required to err on the side of caution. Who the hell knows what she told them.

[sereia 0]

i was really kidding when i said they should make a separate area for kids.

i understand kids are in a learning stage, they're suffering, etc, but i have been on countless flights in my life and experienced parents who simply tune out their kid while the rest of us are suffering. at least make some attempts to shut the kid up and i'm okay with it!

thank god for ipods and noise reducing earphones!

[trueimage 0]

I think it should be the whole staff. I mean, she didn't turn that plane around. The pilots obliged her. Just my opinion.

The pilots only get to hear her version of the story; once the plane pushes back the cockpit is sterile and nobody goes in except for in emergencies. It's not like the passenger could go up there to tell her version of the story. The pilot is almost always going to take the FA's side in a situation like this because the FA is the one relaying the information and pilots are pretty much required to err on the side of caution. Who the hell knows what she told them.

That's true, but before I delayed a flight (if I was the pilot), I would want more information. But you are right, there's no telling what she told the pilots. For that matter, we've only heard the passenger's side of the story. But if she indeed told the her story correctly and I was another passenger on that plane, you can bet that I would complain very loudly that my flight was held up for no realistic reason.

i was really kidding when i said they should make a separate area for kids.

i understand kids are in a learning stage, they're suffering, etc, but i have been on countless flights in my life and experienced parents who simply tune out their kid while the rest of us are suffering. at least make some attempts to shut the kid up and i'm okay with it!

thank god for ipods and noise reducing earphones!

LOL...parents are equipped with a tuning out mechanism. A blessing for us, but a curse for those around us.

[kittykatwoman 0]

You should watch this video tho...

Clicky

[KarenCee 3]

I watched the video. I saw a 19 month old toddler doing what most toddlers do: squirm. He was not in his normal environment, probably had already been in contact with numerous unfamiliar faces...no wonder he was wiggly and fussy. I cannot see that this video has any bearing on anything to do with the flight attendant's inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour. JMHO as always.

[kittykatwoman 0]

I watched the video. I saw a 19 month old toddler doing what most toddlers do: squirm. He was not in his normal environment, probably had already been in contact with numerous unfamiliar faces...no wonder he was wiggly and fussy. I cannot see that this video has any bearing on anything to do with the flight attendant's inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour. JMHO as always.

I also see that his mother can't handle him very well and the guy that is there is doing a better job. He should have been the plane!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Makes me all warm and fuzzy about my baby getting on a plane for the first time next week.

[JoeMama 0]

I watched the video. I saw a 19 month old toddler doing what most toddlers do: squirm. He was not in his normal environment, probably had already been in contact with numerous unfamiliar faces...no wonder he was wiggly and fussy. I cannot see that this video has any bearing on anything to do with the flight attendant's inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour. JMHO as always.

I also see that his mother can't handle him very well and the guy that is there is doing a better job. He should have been the plane!

I noticed the same thing also. If the lady was going on national television to make the airlines look bad, I would say her son didn't help her succeed in her endeavor.