Posted on 05/11/2015 7:05:40 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
(CBSNews) — An Oregon family traveling with a 15-year old autistic girl was kicked off a flight this week for what the airline calls a “disruptive” situation.
The family calls it an outrage.
Video shot by a fellow passenger and posted to YouTube showed Salt Lake City airport police removing the family from a United Airlines flight last Tuesday, after the pilot made an emergency landing.
The girl’s mother, Donna Beegle, was shocked when officers explained why.
“He said, ‘Well, the captain doesn’t feel comfortable flying to Portland with your daughter on his flight,” Beegle told CBS News.
The trouble began halfway through the flight from Houston to Portland. Beegle says her daughter, Juliette, was hungry and started to act up.
“I know her. When she gets over hungry or over thirsty, she really struggles,” Beegle described.
Her mother says Juliette is a picky eater, so she asked a flight attendant if she could purchase a hot meal from first class — and says she was told no.
“Well, I said, ‘How about we wait for her to have a meltdown and then she is crying and tries to scratch — and then you’ll want to help her,'” Beegle said she told the flight attendant.
Beegle eventually got the meal and said Juliette calmed down. Then came an announcement from the captain.
“We were shocked to hear them say, ‘We’re going to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City, we have a passenger in the back of the plane who has behavior issues,'” Beegle said.
(Excerpt) Read more at 5newsonline.com ...
Never try to take control of an airplane. They don’t like that.
OMG. You can’t put an explosive teen in a plane that close to other people. She would have needed to be drugged on Ativan or such for the duration of the flight. Of course she would have needed all her own food brought.
Anyone flying with someone with special needs had better MAKE SURE those needs are already met before you go.
I have figured out what my kids need, special needs or just a toddler. I can get them across country in coach, no problem, because I have anticipated just about everything.
Remember what some people need to do to get on a plane: if you are paralyzed, or have leg issues, you have to catheterize yourself for the flight becusse they have made the bathrooms too small. My incontinent relative has to sit in his diaper the whole day because there is no way to have his aide help him in the too small bathrooms. Personally I think it’s a travesty but that is the way it is on these squished in airplanes.
My one child with special needs often does not come on family trips because it’s too hard.
I’m with the airline on this one, and I have 2 kids with SN.
The mother came across as a prima donna. I wondered how the young woman’s autism would do if separated from her mother for awhile.
She did. The problem was it wasn't hot, and her daughter wouldn't eat them.
Here's another article with even more information: http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-claims-daughter-autism-kicked-off-united-airlines/story?id=30926832
Don't get me wrong: I'm not defending the mother. According to the article I linked above, she KNEW her daughter wouldn't eat room-temperature food. She could have easily coordinated the requirement with the airline, rather than waiting until the problem occurred. Airlines don't carry extra hot meals -- someone in first class had to give up theirs.
But, the mother escalated the situation by threatening that her daughter may get violent. Under those circumstances, the captain had no choice but to land the plane. If the child HAD become violent and someone was injured, the captain would have been held responsible.
I don’t buy this autism crap. Sure, they might have problems in math class or whatever. But a child sitting there hearing mom say if she doesn’t get a hot meal, she’ll attack? That kid HEARD mom give her permission to attack.
This used to be a discipline issue. A damned earthworm can learn to avoid an electric shock. But somehow these trendy autistic kids cant be trained in how to not throw tantrums?
A friend of mine from France was here not too long ago and had never seen or heard of a single kid there with “autism”. Yes, she has encountered them everywhere here. She asked me why America is full of autistic kids!
The bottom line, I bet those same autistic kids never pull their crap on the meanest baddest bully at school. They don’t walk up and do it to some mean looking hells angel. Well there’s a reason for that. They are gaming everybody, and their moms are too.
After having read the ABC article, I’m more with the Mom. She told them when getting on the plane about an unexpected issue, the flight attendant agreed to heat up a sandwich, then didn’t. Just freaking go to the microwave and heat up the sandwich and this issue never happens.
a learning disability, that’s all it is. But its being turned into someone who can never be expected to act right in public.
What happens when these brats leave moms nest?
Where were they in the 60s, these nut kids who explode if their every whim isn’t instantly met? And sorry, but too many moms think its trendy, and that it means their child is too smart for everyone else and is a budding Einstein. Its all a giant scam, blown far out of proportion.
She should have thrown in that her daughter was transgender.
It is the duty of every pilot in charge to insure the safety of all passengers.
If he felt there was a security risk possible then he took the correct action.
The mother said she had snacks but she only likes hot food. Makes no sense to me.
I would think if she had contacted the airline prior to the flight, they would have made accommodations.
The mother likes attention.
Howzabout tell your little hellion, “NO, The world won’t always adjust to make you happy. You better learn that soon or you’ll get your happy little ass kicked by someone when you pull this on the wrong person.”
It coulda been a teachable moment. That concept that nobody else cares about making the world simply perfect for them. If the “autist” really, seriously, literally cannot stop from scratching people when they cannot have a hot meal, the person should be institutionalized.
i.e. crap degrees from the University of Social Justice.
Nothing worse than screaming kids.
I came across two different ones yesterday and the parents acted like it was normal.
I kept thinking ‘smack that kid’
Wow... maybe everyone needs to read the article. The mom was trying to prepare,there had been a layover and a nasty “1st Class male attendant” refused to get a simple hot meal to help alleviate the situation when he was asked. Even the paramedics and cops were embarrassed. Sometimes I am truly sad how fellow conservatives pile on to certain situations.
Under U.S. FAA FAR 91.3, "Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command", the FAA declares:[4]
The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.
In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.
Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator.
Demands? It was closer to a threath.
A.A. in Journalism, a B.A. in Communications, a Master’s Degree in Communication with a minor in Gender Studies, a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership.
“A damned earthworm can learn to avoid an electric shock. But somehow these trendy autistic kids cant be trained in how to not throw tantrums?
Bump!
I support the mom too. She was doing her best to stave off the blood sugar drop and knew a simple hot meal would work(and it did when it finally came). Reread the article and you will see that it was a male 1st class attendant that was working against her.
BTW the scratching the mom talked was about is what a frustrated autistic child will do to herself. Have we become so heartless that we stand back and judge and ridicule a mom having a difficult time with a disabled child?
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