According to ABC’s Good Morning America:
An American Eagle flight about to take off from the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport was turned back to its gate on Monday to remove two passengers.
The culprits? An upset, autistic toddler and his mother.
By all accounts, two-year-old Jarret Farrell wasn't a happy traveler. But his mother, Janice Farrell, who said she tried everything to calm her son, believes there was no reason for the airline to kick them off the plane.
The airline disagrees, saying they were removed primarily because Janice Farrell kept her carry-on bag on the floor in front of her seat, but that Jarret's behavior added to the tense situation.
The child had been crying and screaming uncontrollably, to the point where the child's well being was in question," American Airlines, the parent company of American Eagle, said in a statement. "Though, ultimately, the parent's violation of FAA regulations was the cause for removal, both situations contributed to an uncomfortable and potentially unsafe atmosphere for our passengers and crew."
You can watch the video here.
Jack has been on many flights in his lifetime. Overall I would say he’s a fairly good traveler, although it can be stressful. For example, there was the time that Jack and I were flying back to Texas from Boston last year. We were sitting next to a very nice business traveler … who Jack promptly threw up all over. The man couldn’t have been nicer about it. The flight attendant was horrified.
When Jack was younger, Andy used to shoot daggers at me with his eyes when I held Jack on my lap instead of having him properly strapped in. I’ve received reprimands from flight attendants about this as well. I’ve always felt completely torn. Safety versus severe meltdown. It seems so simple when you type those words. Safety trumps all of course. Experiencing them is another thing altogether. Disturbing other passengers, being removed from the flight, being scratched and having my hair pulled by my out-of-control son.
Not good…
Of course, when Andy would swoop in and take over, Jack sat next to him with his seat belt securely fastened and his tray in the upright and locked position.
Sigh..
You’ll be happy to know that I no longer cave and allow the lap-sitting thing. When we get on the plane, I strap Jack in and let him fuss. I also stick a button on his backpack that says "I'm Not Misbehaving. I Have Autism. Please Be Understanding." When I get the inevitable condescending glances, I position the backpack so they can clearly see the button.
You can watch the video here.
Jack has been on many flights in his lifetime. Overall I would say he’s a fairly good traveler, although it can be stressful. For example, there was the time that Jack and I were flying back to Texas from Boston last year. We were sitting next to a very nice business traveler … who Jack promptly threw up all over. The man couldn’t have been nicer about it. The flight attendant was horrified.
When Jack was younger, Andy used to shoot daggers at me with his eyes when I held Jack on my lap instead of having him properly strapped in. I’ve received reprimands from flight attendants about this as well. I’ve always felt completely torn. Safety versus severe meltdown. It seems so simple when you type those words. Safety trumps all of course. Experiencing them is another thing altogether. Disturbing other passengers, being removed from the flight, being scratched and having my hair pulled by my out-of-control son.
Not good…
Of course, when Andy would swoop in and take over, Jack sat next to him with his seat belt securely fastened and his tray in the upright and locked position.
Sigh..
You’ll be happy to know that I no longer cave and allow the lap-sitting thing. When we get on the plane, I strap Jack in and let him fuss. I also stick a button on his backpack that says "I'm Not Misbehaving. I Have Autism. Please Be Understanding." When I get the inevitable condescending glances, I position the backpack so they can clearly see the button.
So far we haven’t made the evening news. We’re flying to California at the end of July. I’ll keep you posted.
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7 comments:
This makes me furious and fearful! Our son has always been good on flights but we have entered the terrible two's and I am nervous about our flight at the end of July, too. Good Luck!
We've been fortunate that Helena has always been a good traveler - when she was little she was perfectly content to sit in her seat and look out the window, and, other than kicking the seat in front of her, was fine.
I don't understand the whole "keeping the carry on bag on the floor in front of her seat" deal. Was she in the first row where there was no seat in front of her? Sounds like an excuse to me.
I flew cross country last December with my two youngest children, at the time 5 and 22 months old. We flew Skywest and Delta, and I have to say they were very accomodating. Even though the 21-month old flew as a lap child, they moved passengers around so we could have a row of three seats to ourselves. And the other passengers were accomodating too.
Granted our youngest is not on the spectrum, but at that age any child can be a handful when traveling
We've generally had positive experiences as well. I take the approach that the best defense is a good offense. I tell the flight attendants that Jack has autism as well as anyone sitting around us. I try to be as warm as I can and apologize in advance, telling them we'll do our absolute best. So far that approach has served me fairly well.
And I'm not afraid to point a finger in the face of some condescending person and provide a little personal dose of autism awareness. (I know it sounds hostile, but mean people make my autism mommy blood boil...)
All I know is that we've got to figure out a way to make things better. More understanding is key.
Being in the military, we have had to travel a lot as well. I also apologize in advance to the people sitting around us. We always ask for bulk head seating so Rhema is not kicking the living daylights out of a passenger seat in front of us. The portable DVD player works wonders. On our last flight, Rhema entertained herself (and drove everyone else crazy) by repeatedly opening and closing a musical greeting card. By the end of the flight everyone around us had "The Chicken Dance" stuck in their heads.
I just have this feeling that the story is one of those "everyone screwed up" tales of travel woe. Mom could have explained better. Flight attendant could have listened better. Pilot could have managed better. They didn't.
Makes me mad - but seems like one of those things that just escalated for no good reason at all...
Lisa (autism.about.com)
We are traveling Monday. (not on American) I have flown with Colin before and he's usually a great traveler. My girls, on the other hand, can be another story!!!
Colin does like to bop his head on the seat so I usually seat his sisters directly behind us.
Not all people are intolerant. My daughter-in-law recently flew standby military from Germany, with the goal of going to Georgia.
There were two flights they could have gotten on...NJ and Charleston SC. When they found out they were scheduled for NJ, M, my 11 yr old grandson, had a meltdown in the terminal, which included chanting very loudly, CHARLESTON, CHARLESTON. After quite awhile of that, someone came over to them and told them their flight had been changed to Charleston... probably to avoid having him scream all the way to the states. My D-I-L didn't mind making the change at all...it was the best place for them to land.
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