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This would have been a perfect opportunity for me to go ape on a plane.
Talking toddler and mother removed from flight in Houston
Little boy repeated 'Bye-bye, plane'
By Laura Whitley
(7/11/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - A passenger on a Houston flight says she and her child were thrown off the plane during an incident before takeoff. The question is -- did a crew member go too far, or was the move justified?
You know what it's like when you fly and the flight attendant goes through the security information before take-off. Some of you pay attention and some of you don't. But what happened on a recent Continental ExpressJet flight in Houston led to a woman and her child getting thrown off the plane, and now she wants answers.
The Atlanta to Oklahoma City flight was just connecting at Bush Intercontinental Airport. There was a long delay, but the problems for the Georgia mother and her son didn't start until they boarded the plane.
Passenger Kate Penland recalled, "He was saying, 'Bye-bye, plane.'"
That's how Penland's son Garron said goodbye to a more than 11 hour delay at the Houston airport. It happened last month on board a Continental ExpressJet plane while it taxied. The one and a half year old repeated 'bye-bye, plane' all though the flight attendant's safety speech.
"As she finished, 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 explained Garron would likely fall asleep soon. The toddler wasn't crying or throwing a fit.
Penland told Eyewitness News, "She said, 'It doesn't matter. Regardless, I don't want to hear it.' And she said it's called baby Benadryl and (made a drinking motion.) And I said, 'Well, I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight.'"
"He wasn't any louder than the adult passengers on the plane," said passenger Stacey Watts.
Watts sat just a few rows back from the Georgia mother and heard the entire conversation.
"Katie was in shock at that point," Watts explained. "You could tell. She was in row 3 and I was in row 6. She just kept saying, 'I don't know what you expect me to do. I don't know what you expect me to do.'"
Suddenly eyewitnesses say the flight attendant announced they were returning to the gate and Penland would be removed from the plane.
Houston police received a report of a disturbance on a plane, but it appears when the officer got there, he didn't find any crime. In fact, Penland wasn't arrested charged or even given a ticket.
According to ExpressJet, the flight crew has the authority to remove passengers who interfere with the safe operation of a flight. Penland has a difficult time believing she or her son caused that type of problem.
"It was embarrassing," she said. "I felt helpless."
We did some checking and the airline doesn't appear to have any specific rules or policies regarding passengers talking during the safety instructions.
Kristy Nicholas, a spokesperson for ExpressJet, gave the following statement to Eyewitness News: "We received Ms. Penland's letter expressing her concerns and intend to investigate."
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...cal&id=5472927
This would have been a perfect opportunity for me to go ape on a plane.
There's a special place in for parents that won't shut their obnoxious kids up on an airplane. It's right next door to the special place in for parents that won't shut their obnoxious kids up in restaurants.
Don't forget about the reserved for the parents who insist on bring their screaming/crying babies into a movie theatre because they're too cheap to get a babysitter or too selfish to just stay at home and let others enjoy the film.
No that special place is for you if a child gets on your nerves that much.
I hope that lady gives them . No way should she of been thrown off the plane.
I was just on a flight when I noticed a mother asking a gentleman if he could switch seats with her because they didn't place her and her child next to each other. He was saying no and I was thinking what an ahole. She then turns and walks towards me and asked me, turns out the seat next to me was her childs. i said no problem I would be happy too.
Before take off and through out our 3 hr flight, there was a toddler seating behind him and he was loud and kept kicking the seat in front of him. Which happened to be the man who wouldn't switch seats. i just kept seeing his head jerk forward and I couldn't stop laughing.....karma ahole.
I agree that parents need to be responsible and not bring their kids to places that aren't right for kids.
Crying/screaming in movies and restaurants is not acceptable.
But if you have to fly and the kid is just talking, no matter how non-stop, it's okay with me. As long as it's talking and not screaming.
You're stuck on a plane. If your kid does break down all you can do is try to walk them or stand in the back rocking them. (I've been there. I had to fly cross country when my father died. My youngest was 9 months at the time. I had no choice and neither did she. I'm happy to remember that people on that flight were wonderful. No one complained and several offered to help amuse her with me, including a Flight Attendant.)
OK, then explain to me why I need to be subjected to your crying, screaming offspring when I paid three hundred bucks to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with two hundred other fully annoyed adults for four hours in a metal tube 30,000 feet above the ground.
Thanks in advance.
How funny.
I had a toddler scream and cry off and on for 6 straight hours in the seat in front of me. My bad for letting it get to me though right?
Or another time when I was stuck in Rome and missed my connecting because a 3 year old refused to seat in his seat and we couldn't take off until the kid was buckled in.
If you can't control your kids, don't travel with them.
It's that simple.
So, how is the child supposed to travel? Are kids only allowed to travel by car?
In a movie or restaurant its mildly annoying but on a plane, what the do you want the parents to do, parachute to their destination? Would you like a law that says you are not allowed to travel once you have children?
The flight attendant should be fired. If she doesn't have the patience to deal with a baby saying "bye bye plane", she's in the wrong line of work.
I hate disrupting other people in restaurants when I have my boy with me. I've left before even getting food if he acts up. I have no problem asking for a doggie bag 10min. after I've been seated. I would only hope other parents would show the same consideration. I saw Transformers with a newborn screaming about 10 rows down, wtf?
Which would be worse?
What if the plane crashed in middle of the Amazon and you manged to survive and crawl 20 miles to a little know tribe. While they nurse you back to health word gets out the the lady sitting in your seat was killed in the plane crash. Burn beyond all recognition your family assumes its you since its your seat and goes ahead and plans your funeral.
They have your funeral and your husband/wife meets someone weeks later and falls in love with them, that person ultimately raises you children like they were their red headed bratty step kids that they are. You find your way back to reality 1 year later to find that your life has changed beyond comprehension. All because you switched seats you ultimately kill yourself because its too much to handle.
Wait, why should this be the problem of everyone else on board? Why should I be forced to care?
Thank you. Some kids are just crankier than others. My daughter would sit quietly through anything. My son on the other hand can't sit still for much longer than 15 minutes.
You don't know how your kids will react to certain situations until the first time. I know i can't take my son to the movies or to a restuarunt where the wait time is long. But not after I first experienced it.
If you can't stand it, you shouldnt go. Because thats life and to turn and make faces and comments will only make you look like the ahole you are. They're just kids.
I want them to shut the kid up immediately if not sooner. Is that too much to ask? I travel frequently enough to see some parents get up and silence their children almost instantly. I've seen others that ignore their tantrums, or give up and plug in their earphones, or start arguing Parenting 101 with the folks that ask the parents to intervene.
Couldn't say it any better.
Uncontrollable kids on planes should be put in cages and kept with the luggage.
I agree about the restaurant and the movies, but other people shouldn't have to deal with it on a plane. This kid in particular wasn't unruly and the flight attendant was in the wrong, but if the kid was screaming his head off, then the parent should know well enough to offer to get off if the kid doesn't look like he's gonna stop.
I have yet to take my 2 year old to the movies, but the first time I do and he won't keep quiet, I have no problem leaving and missing the movie.
Before I had my son I would have been glad they told that off and removed her. After having my son I feel her pain. Its hard to keep 1-2 year olds quiet.
Two words:
PRIVATE JET.
Here's another two:
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
I'm sure the lady will get a free airline ticket out of this so it's no big deal.
So the rest of society has to be subjected to your kid's behavioral litmus test on a daily basis? We appreciate your courtesy.
Because everyone has to travel. It's just like a bus -- would you support rules on a bus that say no kids on board? What about trains?
If the company in question (American, Southwest, etc) does not have specific rules about crying babies or parents who fly and this bothers you, then you have a right not to patronize them.
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