Austistic teen kicked off plane.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mother made a threat so they all got booted. Moral of the story: Don't make threats on an airplane.

+1

This is the bottom line. It is not about anything else. The mother's actions were negligible, probably in more ways than one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't threaten that your kid will get violent to get what you want and then be surprised that the flight attendants take precautions in case your kid gets violent. Landing the plane was probably an overreaction, but the mother didn't handle the whole situation well either.

+1 the mother was overly dramatic with her threats. She got the same response right back at her.

Thing is, not only did the mom say that her kid might get violent, but the mom basically also told everyone that she could not control her own child if things don't go her child's way. For those who have never dealt with an out of control violent person, you have no idea who dangerous it can be and how difficult it can be to gain control of the situation. If the child is at risk for violence and mom can't control her, then there was the potential of danger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't threaten that your kid will get violent to get what you want and then be surprised that the flight attendants take precautions in case your kid gets violent. Landing the plane was probably an overreaction, but the mother didn't handle the whole situation well either.

+1 the mother was overly dramatic with her threats. She got the same response right back at her.

Thing is, not only did the mom say that her kid might get violent, but the mom basically also told everyone that she could not control her own child if things don't go her child's way. For those who have never dealt with an out of control violent person, you have no idea who dangerous it can be and how difficult it can be to gain control of the situation. If the child is at risk for violence and mom can't control her, then there was the potential of danger.

Thank you! Finally some rational people!!! You cannot make threats on a freaking airplane. Period...don't care who the hell you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't threaten that your kid will get violent to get what you want and then be surprised that the flight attendants take precautions in case your kid gets violent. Landing the plane was probably an overreaction, but the mother didn't handle the whole situation well either.

+1 the mother was overly dramatic with her threats. She got the same response right back at her.

Thing is, not only did the mom say that her kid might get violent, but the mom basically also told everyone that she could not control her own child if things don't go her child's way. For those who have never dealt with an out of control violent person, you have no idea who dangerous it can be and how difficult it can be to gain control of the situation. If the child is at risk for violence and mom can't control her, then there was the potential of danger.

Thank you! Finally some rational people!!! You cannot make threats on a freaking airplane. Period...don't care who the hell you are.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Utterly insane. How hard is it to heat up a sandwich for a girl who might have issues without it? The other passengers on the plane said at no time did the girl get upset, mom was trying to avoid the meltdown, and the first class flight attendant was an ass. In one video you could hear other passengers saying to leave them alone.

Similar happened to me. My daughter started coughing on the tarmac, which means she was headed for an asthma attack. I went into overhead to get her albuterol, and the flight attendant (male) came back and started yelling at me. I told him the issue, asked for the little container in the front pocket of my bag. He gave me the wrong one - it was almost empty. I explained the situation again and he started yelling at me, telling me he was going to call the authorities. By now we were in-flight (short flight from Boston to DC). He told me he already got me a vial and I didn't need another. So I stood up and got it myself (seat belt signs were off by this point). He got the pilot who then came back and yelled at me, as I was nebulizing the baby (you'd think this would tip him off, but no). We arrived in DC and were met by the medics - the staff told them they wanted to prove my daughter was fine. Two older ladies sitting behind me had stayed on the plane to tell the medics that the staff refused to hand me the meds and that I asked politely, and never raised my voice. They said the baby never cried and that I handled things quickly and efficiently.

The medics did a pulse ox and told the staff point blank that my daughter HAD had a mild asthma attack and due to my quick thinking and persistence, they were lucky that they were only pissed off, that there could have been a real crisis had I not gotten the meds myself. They then commended me for having them in overhead, and not in the cargo area where they would not have been accessible. Sheepish staff tried to explain themselves and he told them the ONLY reason he was not taking the baby to the hospital to clear her, was because he felt confident I had full control and that she would be fine. By that point her pulse ox was back to normal.

The flight attendant is going to have her ass handed to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Utterly insane. How hard is it to heat up a sandwich for a girl who might have issues without it? The other passengers on the plane said at no time did the girl get upset, mom was trying to avoid the meltdown, and the first class flight attendant was an ass. In one video you could hear other passengers saying to leave them alone.

Similar happened to me. My daughter started coughing on the tarmac, which means she was headed for an asthma attack. I went into overhead to get her albuterol, and the flight attendant (male) came back and started yelling at me. I told him the issue, asked for the little container in the front pocket of my bag. He gave me the wrong one - it was almost empty. I explained the situation again and he started yelling at me, telling me he was going to call the authorities. By now we were in-flight (short flight from Boston to DC). He told me he already got me a vial and I didn't need another. So I stood up and got it myself (seat belt signs were off by this point). He got the pilot who then came back and yelled at me, as I was nebulizing the baby (you'd think this would tip him off, but no). We arrived in DC and were met by the medics - the staff told them they wanted to prove my daughter was fine. Two older ladies sitting behind me had stayed on the plane to tell the medics that the staff refused to hand me the meds and that I asked politely, and never raised my voice. They said the baby never cried and that I handled things quickly and efficiently.

The medics did a pulse ox and told the staff point blank that my daughter HAD had a mild asthma attack and due to my quick thinking and persistence, they were lucky that they were only pissed off, that there could have been a real crisis had I not gotten the meds myself. They then commended me for having them in overhead, and not in the cargo area where they would not have been accessible. Sheepish staff tried to explain themselves and he told them the ONLY reason he was not taking the baby to the hospital to clear her, was because he felt confident I had full control and that she would be fine. By that point her pulse ox was back to normal.

The flight attendant is going to have her ass handed to her.

That used to get you diverted to IAD.

[Anonymous]

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.

The lawsuit will get tossed. The mother informed the flight attendant that another passenger (her daughter) was close to having a physical "meltdown" at 36,000 feet. It's sad, but the flight attendant acted reasonably. If the mother was aware that her daughter had not eaten during the layover then she should have never stepped foot on that plane. Plus, knowing that a meltdown was possible maybe the family should have sprung for at least one first class ticket? They were on a Disney vacation for crying out loud, its not like they were travelling at the last minute for an emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mother knew her kid wanted hot food and she should have fed her ay a restaurant in the airport.

You know, I fly a lot with my DD who is six now and between the security lines, changing terminals and making it to the gate, MOST OF THE TIME I'm lucky if we have time to go to the bathroom.

Airline stuff and TSA agents OFTEN act like complete aholes.

I try not to fly by American carriers when I can. Europeans have a more pleasant attitude and are customer oriented. American flight attendants are just Nazis whose single purpose during the flight is to make sure you are restrained in your seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't threaten that your kid will get violent to get what you want and then be surprised that the flight attendants take precautions in case your kid gets violent. Landing the plane was probably an overreaction, but the mother didn't handle the whole situation well either.

+1 the mother was overly dramatic with her threats. She got the same response right back at her.

Thing is, not only did the mom say that her kid might get violent, but the mom basically also told everyone that she could not control her own child if things don't go her child's way. For those who have never dealt with an out of control violent person, you have no idea who dangerous it can be and how difficult it can be to gain control of the situation. If the child is at risk for violence and mom can't control her, then there was the potential of danger.

This is how I see it. If you tell the flight staff that your kid is at high risk for becoming violent and injuring herself or others, you can't cry foul when they believe you. I feel badly for the kid, but the mom should have considered the obligations of the crew to ensure everyone's safety.

Did they even have a way to heat food on the plane? I've been on many planes with no ovens--the food is heated on the ground, and it's not like there is a microwave on the plane.

[Anonymous]

I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

[Anonymous]

The mom did not say the child will get violent. She said I am sure you will bring the sandwich once the meltdown starts so why wait until she is kicking and screaming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mom did not say the child will get violent. She said I am sure you will bring the sandwich once the meltdown starts so why wait until she is kicking and screaming.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832

"I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no" she said. "I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here,'" but he again refused.

"He came back again and I said, 'I have a child with special needs, I need to get her something.' And he said, 'I can't do that,'" she explained. "I said, 'How about we wait for her to have a meltdown, she'll be crying and trying to scratch in frustration. I don't want her to get to that point.'"

The attendant then brought Juliette rice and jambalaya, Beegle said, and "she ate and she was fine."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get over the idea that a "high functioning" 15 year old will only eat hot food. That seems incredibly limiting and like something her parents should be trying to help her with. I just can't imagine living with someone who will only eat hot food.

Food/drink issues are really, really common with autism. I'm surprised you don't know that.

[Anonymous]

I just don't see how the mother's words and behavior equal a "threat". "I'm going to blow up this plane if you don't wire money to my Swiss bank account" is a threat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Believe it or not, those flight attendants are not actually there just to warm up sandwiches and pour coffee. They are there to get your ass out of the plane alive should there be a problem. They are there to give first aid, use the portable defibrillators and calm panic should any situation arise that they need to do so. It's their job to monitor the health and safety of everyone on the plane. The coffee is just something they do to keep everyone safe and comfortable when nothing else is going on.

They are assessing the safety of hundreds of people. Again, the sandwhich is moot. There was a safety concern. Just because mom said the sandwhich would solve the situation- what if it didn't? There was a threat to passenger safety (even had the girl scratched herself), and that requires immediate attention.

But what if mom was right and it did solve the problem? With minimal to no effort on the behalf of the flight attendants who are there to keep us all safe. So instead of taking mom's word for it that a potential problem would be thwarted with minimal effort, the flight attendants chose to actually escalate the situation and create a problem where none actually existed. What I read, mom was trying to explain what could happen. The flight attendants made sure that they created an environment to give the potential problem the greatest chance of actually happening rather than trying to solve the problem, thereby keeping everyone safe. And up in the air.

You do get that they actually did give the girl the freaking sandwich, right?

Cold and after all the drama.