Austistic teen kicked off plane.....

[Anonymous]

Jeez people, the parents bought food before the flight left and she wouldn't eat then. They tried it prevent this problem before hand but were unsuccessful. Cut them some slack. Even the best laid plans sometimes don't work out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a case where I really feel like I need more information about what actually happened before I pass judgment. We have the mother's best-case version of what happened, but even that raises questions, like why didn't she plan for this accordingly (such as packing food in a heated thermos), and what was her back-up plan if, for some reason, the flight attendants actually couldn't get her hot food? Also, exactly what did she tell the flight attendant would happen if her daughter didn't settle down? If what she said gave the flight attendant cause to be concerned about the safety of others on the plane (i.e., would she become violent if mom couldn't settle her), that might be good reason to divert and remove her from the plane *before* she became violent rather than waiting until she did and someone got hurt.

Yes, and I wonder at what point they decided to divert. We don't know what the pilot was told and what information he/she used to decide to divert the plane. Perhaps by the time the girl calmed down after getting the food, the plane had already changed its flight plan and started the emergency landing so it was too late at that point to continue on to Portland.

Was it an emergency landing or it was a scheduled layover. It looked like it was a scheduled layover. They probably made the decision when she started to act up.

It was an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. She started to fuss during a layover in Houston. The plane must have taken off and then decided to divert.

[Anonymous]

I hate United. I really don't understand why it's a big deal for them to just reheat the f'ing sandwich.

[Anonymous]

With this woman being a prominent activist, I have to wonder if part of the issue is her embarrassment over being the cause of the plane re-routing. Why not turn it into a lawsuit?

A pilot has the responsibility of every single passenger on the plane sitting squarely on their shoulders. This includes the teen and her parents, and every other passenger.

They cannot assess which way a scenario will go. If autistic child HAD had a meltdown and injuries happened, this pilot and United would be lauded for their quick attention in getting the plane safely to the ground.

But it didn't happen, and now they're being called into question.

A plane is not a car. You can't suddenly pull over to the side of the road to see if a meltdown is going to happen, and swerve back into the lane if it doesn't. The pilot made a decision to re-route based on the information he got, which is, from my understanding, that this child would hurt herself or her family if she didn't get something.

A pilot has no idea if that something will actually solve the problem. What if that escalates the issue, rather than solves it? He just has the responsibility of that passenger to address, which means diverting was also to protect her. The fact that the meltdown didn't happen is moot. There aren't do-overs in flying. The safest, quickest and allowable course of action (taking into consideration that you can't just land at any old airport or take any old flight path for kicks), was to divert. They don't have oodles of time to wait for a resolution, if the best option is readily available at that moment.

People are getting too focused on the sandwich issue, and not the deeper POTENTIAL safety issue. I guarantee they wouldn't do that if the sandwich hadn't been the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With this woman being a prominent activist, I have to wonder if part of the issue is her embarrassment over being the cause of the plane re-routing. Why not turn it into a lawsuit?

A pilot has the responsibility of every single passenger on the plane sitting squarely on their shoulders. This includes the teen and her parents, and every other passenger.

They cannot assess which way a scenario will go. If autistic child HAD had a meltdown and injuries happened, this pilot and United would be lauded for their quick attention in getting the plane safely to the ground.

But it didn't happen, and now they're being called into question.

A plane is not a car. You can't suddenly pull over to the side of the road to see if a meltdown is going to happen, and swerve back into the lane if it doesn't. The pilot made a decision to re-route based on the information he got, which is, from my understanding, that this child would hurt herself or her family if she didn't get something.

A pilot has no idea if that something will actually solve the problem. What if that escalates the issue, rather than solves it? He just has the responsibility of that passenger to address, which means diverting was also to protect her. The fact that the meltdown didn't happen is moot. There aren't do-overs in flying. The safest, quickest and allowable course of action (taking into consideration that you can't just land at any old airport or take any old flight path for kicks), was to divert. They don't have oodles of time to wait for a resolution, if the best option is readily available at that moment.

People are getting too focused on the sandwich issue, and not the deeper POTENTIAL safety issue. I guarantee they wouldn't do that if the sandwich hadn't been the answer.

Sorry.. Should also add, pilot also can't just change their mind again and un-divert. Air traffic and air traffic control is complex.when the decision was made to divert, it was made, affecting two airports- the whole airline in fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom should have fed kid before plane like others have said. They easily could have arrived early and gotten a hot meal. Or, she should have made arrangements ahead of time with the airlines. I have a special needs kid so I am empathetic but there are so many flight restrictions if you have a child who is that disabled, it may not be best to fly. There is a section on some airlines that you can document any special needs and get assistance. We have a child with mild autism and noted it on the flight documents. Some were nicer about it than others but on one flight the flight attendant came to check on us. My kid loves flying so its a non-issue but there is probably a lot more to this story. As a parent, I pack everything I need and plenty of extra just in case. I'm sure mom is exhausted and all that, but its her responsibility to meet her child's needs.

Mom tried to feed her during the layover.

I have been on plenty of planes where people have asked to have things heated up. What the mom asked for wasn't unreasonable. In fact, it's a pretty much a textbook example of "reasonable accommodations". It's quite reasonable of a parent to assume that the airline would do so.

Honestly, when parents with children with less significant disabilities express the kind of attitude you express, it makes me sick, and my heart breaks for their children. If you really feel that having less disabilities makes you somehow more worthy of accommodation, than people with more disabilities, there's no doubt that you're also conveying the idea that no disabilities are better still. I can't imagine growing up with a parent who felt I was less.

Honestly, what a terrible, sickening, and unfair thing to say to the original poster. I can't imagine how you can post the message you did. Setting aside the reading comprehension issues that your post indicates, it's just mean spirited and awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With this woman being a prominent activist, I have to wonder if part of the issue is her embarrassment over being the cause of the plane re-routing. Why not turn it into a lawsuit?

A pilot has the responsibility of every single passenger on the plane sitting squarely on their shoulders. This includes the teen and her parents, and every other passenger.

They cannot assess which way a scenario will go. If autistic child HAD had a meltdown and injuries happened, this pilot and United would be lauded for their quick attention in getting the plane safely to the ground.

But it didn't happen, and now they're being called into question.

A plane is not a car. You can't suddenly pull over to the side of the road to see if a meltdown is going to happen, and swerve back into the lane if it doesn't. The pilot made a decision to re-route based on the information he got, which is, from my understanding, that this child would hurt herself or her family if she didn't get something.

A pilot has no idea if that something will actually solve the problem. What if that escalates the issue, rather than solves it? He just has the responsibility of that passenger to address, which means diverting was also to protect her. The fact that the meltdown didn't happen is moot. There aren't do-overs in flying. The safest, quickest and allowable course of action (taking into consideration that you can't just land at any old airport or take any old flight path for kicks), was to divert. They don't have oodles of time to wait for a resolution, if the best option is readily available at that moment.

People are getting too focused on the sandwich issue, and not the deeper POTENTIAL safety issue. I guarantee they wouldn't do that if the sandwich hadn't been the answer.

+1 I am so tired of these activists making their kids causes and plastering them all over the news. Mom stated that child can get aggressive, flight staff took her threats seriously even though she was only using them to bully them into feeding her child first class food flying coach). Another mom looking to cause problems for other families. I'm far more tired of that than how the airline acted. As a mom of a special needs kid, my kid is mild and no more or less well behaved than other kids but if someone hears that autism diagnosis, we get negative responses because of situations like this that are partly set up by the parents. Can child help it? NO. Can parents? YES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeez people, the parents bought food before the flight left and she wouldn't eat then. They tried it prevent this problem before hand but were unsuccessful. Cut them some slack. Even the best laid plans sometimes don't work out.

Then bring the food on the plane, like we would all do. Most hot food is heated before the plane takes off, not on microwaves. They may not have had a way to heat a meal. I've never seen them do anything but give hot water for a formula bottle. If she needed first class service, she should have upgraded. She's looking for a fight and attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If her daughter needs hot food, why doesn't she travel with hot food?

Thank you! I would think you would want to minimize the chance that your kid would have a meltdown and hurt someone.
What happens if she does that in midair?

Can someone educate me as to how a family that needs to travel coach class can create hot food in midair? We are not allowed to bring, for example, hot thermoses onboard, are we?

[Anonymous]

Emergency landing the plane was a WAY over reaction. They could have just had security waiting at the destination to school those parents/bar them from future flights if they felt the request for hot food was so threatening.

It's a ridiculous over reaction and makes the airline look terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With this woman being a prominent activist, I have to wonder if part of the issue is her embarrassment over being the cause of the plane re-routing. Why not turn it into a lawsuit?

A pilot has the responsibility of every single passenger on the plane sitting squarely on their shoulders. This includes the teen and her parents, and every other passenger.

They cannot assess which way a scenario will go. If autistic child HAD had a meltdown and injuries happened, this pilot and United would be lauded for their quick attention in getting the plane safely to the ground.

But it didn't happen, and now they're being called into question.

A plane is not a car. You can't suddenly pull over to the side of the road to see if a meltdown is going to happen, and swerve back into the lane if it doesn't. The pilot made a decision to re-route based on the information he got, which is, from my understanding, that this child would hurt herself or her family if she didn't get something.

A pilot has no idea if that something will actually solve the problem. What if that escalates the issue, rather than solves it? He just has the responsibility of that passenger to address, which means diverting was also to protect her. The fact that the meltdown didn't happen is moot. There aren't do-overs in flying. The safest, quickest and allowable course of action (taking into consideration that you can't just land at any old airport or take any old flight path for kicks), was to divert. They don't have oodles of time to wait for a resolution, if the best option is readily available at that moment.

People are getting too focused on the sandwich issue, and not the deeper POTENTIAL safety issue. I guarantee they wouldn't do that if the sandwich hadn't been the answer.

So it all comes back to the shitty flight attendants. The pilot SHOULD have an idea that something WILL ACTUALLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM because mom was clear all the way through that a hot frickin' sandwich would solve this potential problem. People are focused on the sandwich because it was THE issue. And so easily provided that United looks like the pricks they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emergency landing the plane was a WAY over reaction. They could have just had security waiting at the destination to school those parents/bar them from future flights if they felt the request for hot food was so threatening.

It's a ridiculous over reaction and makes the airline look terrible.

United has made dumb decisions in the past. That doesn't mean this is w dumb decision, what if the girl had had her threatened meltdown, with screaming and scratching? How would meeting the family on the ground address that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emergency landing the plane was a WAY over reaction. They could have just had security waiting at the destination to school those parents/bar them from future flights if they felt the request for hot food was so threatening.

It's a ridiculous over reaction and makes the airline look terrible.

Commercial airlines are governed by federal law when it comes to in flight disruptive behavior. Being reprimanded by security after the fact is not protocol for certain in flight situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emergency landing the plane was a WAY over reaction. They could have just had security waiting at the destination to school those parents/bar them from future flights if they felt the request for hot food was so threatening.

It's a ridiculous over reaction and makes the airline look terrible.

It's an overreaction until, well, it isn't.

That's the problem with decisions. Sometimes they're right, but sometimes they're wrong.

In my mind, if everyone is safe, even if inconvenienced, it was a good decision. Unfortunately someone is trying to make it a personal teaching moment instead of looking at the big picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would have been the big deal if the fight attendent gave her some hot food from first class? Is that really such a big deal? Did they really need to divert a plane over this request?

The teen was given the hot food accommodation. They were escorted off due to the potential for disruptive behavior while in flight. There was a flight safety concern.

But any person has a potential for disruptive behavior. If this is the case, then the mom does have basis for a lawsuit--her child was discriminated against due to her autism. There was no actual disruptive behavior.

Using your logic, it's OK to say there is a bomb on the plane, and when there is not, cry discrimination because "no actual bomb was found"

More like "there could possibly be a bomb on board, but if you give me a hot f'ing sandwich there won't be" and then no bomb found. And the flight attendant arguing with you about said f-ing hot sandwich.