Pilot turns plane around, kicks off autistic toddler & mother
Categories: Toddlers, Kids 8-11, Health & safety, In the news, Special needs
It's not uncommon to be on a plane with a crying child. However, having the plane actually TURN AROUND and return to the terminal because of a kid's tantrum isn't typical, but that is what happened to a North Carolina mother and her two-and-a-half- year old son with autism.
According to his mother, little Jared Farrell started getting anxious as the plane was taxiing down the runway, and the flight attendant didn't help matters.
"She kept coming over and tugging his seat belt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seat belt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Janice Farrell, the boy's mother said.
Eventually, one of the pilots left the cockpit to see what the ruckus was about, and tensions between the adults rose, which caused Jared's behavior to get even worse and he started rolling around on the floor. As soon as the pilot returned to his seat, the plane turned back to the terminal.
"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.
While it is true that "rules are rules" and Jared was not following the seat belt rule if he was having a fit on the floor, a disorder affecting 1 out of 150 kids just might warrant some training on how best to handle those with autism and making flying the friendly skies...........well, just a little friendlier.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Uly 6-26-2008 @ 2:10PM
I'm saying the same thing here that I said elsewhere.
As an autistic individual, I don't think that his diagnosis matters in this case.
He's a two and a half year old child. Get them on a plane, and they scream. Like dropping toast - you *know* it'll land with the butter down.
Incidentally, unless a child is acting out deliberately for a tangible reward, it's not a tantrum. When they're out of their own control, it's a meltdown.
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Nicola 6-26-2008 @ 2:21PM
As I see it, the whole "autism" issue shouldn't even come into play here. The child was 2 1/2. Being confined. On a plane. Everybody was getting cranky. He lost it. I've been there and thank goodness they just got that flight underway, at which point my guy finally settled down and zonked out. He is not autistic, but he was every bit an unhappy and tired toddler at the time.
A 2 1/2 year old in full meltdown is annoying, certainly, but unless you are going to ban children under 6 from flying, its just something that will occasionally happen. There is absolutely no RISK posed to the other passengers by an unhappy 2 year old child. There was no cause to turn the flight around.
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wingn4cer26gm 6-26-2008 @ 3:31PM
Flying & crying do not mix ... didnt fly to baby sit .... want a nice peaceful flight ... esp at the costs now.
Nicola 6-26-2008 @ 3:39PM
Well, then, wingn4cer26gm, I suggest that in future you hire a private flight. Otherwise, you take what you get. Trains, planes, buses -- they are public transport. You will be traveling with all sorts of people, adults and children alike. If you don't like it, get yourself there via private means. A 2 year old child IS NOT a danger to other passengers, and thus, turning the plane around because he was having a meltdown was simply ridiculous. You grin and bear it, move on.
Jennifer 6-26-2008 @ 3:57PM
The fact that he is autistic should not warrant giving him extra concessions. He is 2 1/2 years old. Why was he not in a car seat? After all that is the safest way to fly. Had he been sitting in a car seat he would not have been able to loosen his seatbelt to the point that the flight attendant felt the need to tighten in multiple times. Had he been in a car seat he would not have been able to remove the seatbelt completely and roll around on the floor having a meltdown (which does affect others on the flight as the plane cannot take off unless everyone is seated properly.)
The flight attendants do not need to have training in how to deal with autistic children. This mother needed to prepare herself better for the flight. (And that would go for ANY parent of a 2 1/2 year old.)
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Jenn 6-26-2008 @ 4:50PM
But...but...but....if he'd been in a carseat then somebody would be flailing and whinging about how LONG it took for them to get settled and how AGONIZING it is to have to wait for somebody with a CHILD on a plane that they PAID for....and OMG, can't we just ban children from flights altogether because honestly aren't they all just a danger to everybody else?
I mean, really....if it's not the crying, it's the playing, or the talking, or they have too much stuff, or they're peeking over the top of the seat, or they are otherwise not sitting there immobile and silent for 3 hours.
OK, sarcasm off now....I agree with you about the carseat, it would have saved a lot of trouble. However, I do think that the flight attendant's handling of the situation was not appropriate. The pilot, well, I'm not really sure. *I* don't think a two-year-old rolling around in the aisle is a danger, but the airlines have rules, and I don't know exactly how bad the situation was.
Jennifer 6-26-2008 @ 5:07PM
I am sure they could have found a million things to complain about...lol... I will say I would have had a problem had a flight attendant reached over and adjusted my child's seat belt, but then I am sure I would have already beat her/him to it (of course, my kid would have been in a car seat.) As to the rolling in the aisle...if we were in the air then I couldn't care less but this flight hadn't even made it to the runway and we all know that noone is allowed to be in the aisles while the plane prepares to takeoff so it was an issue and the pilot really had no choice.
franckbell5 6-26-2008 @ 5:50PM
child seats are not allowed on planes.. when my infant grandchild was brought to visit me from california to iowa tha child seat was taken away from the mother...
Jennifer 6-26-2008 @ 6:59PM
Franckbell5-
Had the mother purchased a separate seat for the "infant" child or was the child under the age of 2 and flying for free as a lap baby?
Was the car seat in question FAA certified?
Just wondering...
Mihir 6-26-2008 @ 4:14PM
nicola, you mention the child is NOT a danger to other passengers, i think anyone would concede this point.
however, if he's wiggling out of his seat, he can be considered a danger to himself. consider if he had wiggled out during takeoff and tumbled down the aisle?
i think the situation was handled properly. no comment on whether or not the flight attendant "yelled". we only have one side of the story. i don't expect flight attendants to have to be trained to handle every type of disorder out there.
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Michelle 6-26-2008 @ 4:23PM
Absolutely agree with the decision whether the kid was austistic or not. There are safety regulations for a reason and if you can't follow them, you can't follow them. Has nothing to do with ADA, sensitivity, etc. Unfortunately, holding one plane up affects more than just the passengers on that plane....screaming kids are one thing, kids that can't/won't stay in their seat when needed are another.
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Jenn 6-26-2008 @ 4:26PM
The FAA requires that all passengers and crew be buckled in for take-off. How long is everybody else supposed to wait for the parent to get the kid to comply? Evidently, she was not doing anything to help, and also had started out on a bad note by refusing to stow her luggage properly. The crew acted in accordance with federal mandates in getting the pair off of the plane.
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Uly 6-26-2008 @ 11:16PM
The plane was already in the air. Take-off rules don't apply.
Jenny 6-27-2008 @ 8:37AM
This plane was NOT in the air. The article clearly states that it was on the taxiway.
Emily 6-26-2008 @ 4:31PM
To the person who said that people should get private flights if they don't want a screaming toddler throwing a fit, in this case, a private business decided that the behavior would not be permitted. No need for private flights as long as at least one airline makes it a priority to maintain a little order on its flights.
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Brenda 6-26-2008 @ 4:46PM
There are very few carseats that are both FAA certified and actually fit in a coach seat. Children on planes are not required to be restrained in a carseat or anything else other than a seatbelt. Children under two can be held on an adult's lap for the duration of the flight.
Any 2.5 year old may well meltdown on a plane. And if the flight attendant hadn't continued to antagonize the child - "It has to stay tight," then maybe his mother could have calmed him a little better. Honestly whenever I fly there are plenty of adults who clicj the seatbelt closed, but keep it loose. I've never seen a flight attendant chastise them or tighten the belt for them.
The kicker, for me, in this situation was that the pilot not only turned the plane around, but publicly shamed the mother and son by explaining over the loudspeaker that the child was uncontrollable. It's one thing to decide that the kid wasn't following safety rules and needed to be removed from the flight. It's another to harass a child in a manner you'd never do to an adult and then to publically villify a mother and son while removing them.
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dmastenbroek 6-28-2008 @ 3:45PM
I absolutely agree with you 2000%. As much as I hate crying babies, parents reading to kids too loudly, kids in full meltdown and such (they inevitably sit behind me coming and going), this situation was very poorly handled. No special trianing needed. Compassion would have sufficed for both the flight attendant and the pilot.
Tuscanmom 6-26-2008 @ 4:53PM
I agree with Kate- it does seem appropriate. If the airline would have allowed him to remain unbelted because he was pitching a fit, there would have been repercussions for that, too. People are so quick to file lawsuits, what if he bumped his head? And what if the boy got completely out of control when the plane was off of the ground and in the air? Too many what ifs... Taking the plane back to the gate seems reasonable... My guess is that the pilot was simply following protocol.
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Dawn 6-26-2008 @ 5:06PM
The flight attendant was out of line and the pilot over reacted. I am sick and tired of the general public stepping in when they clearly have no right. His mother knows how to deal with him, the airline employees should have left her alone to do just that. Autistic or not, there is truth to the phrase " terrible twos!" We are all going to hell in a hand basket because we have all forgotten how to care!
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Susan 7-01-2008 @ 4:32PM
The flight attendand was doing her job. She has to make sure everyone is securely in their seat before the plane takes off. If the mother knew how to deal with him, he wouldn't have made a fuss in the first place, so that theory of your is just plain wrong. If the child has problems the mother should have known that the kid couldn't handle being strapped in a seat for any lenth of time. It is not society's problem this kid has a learning disability. He was delaying take-off, which will affect that flight and all the other flights that come after. Wanna bet she files a descrimination suit because the kid has a disability??