A mother and her two-year autistic son were escorted off an
American Airlines flight departing from the Raleigh-Durham International Airport,
N.C. on Monday because the “uncontrollable” behavior of the boy.
This theory, however, doesn’t match the one delivered by
American Airlines in a statement, which said Janice Farrell kept her carry-on
bag on the floor in front of her seat, thus breaking the FAA regulations, ABC
News reported. The child’s crying and screaming “uncontrollably” just
contributed “to an uncontrollable and potentially unsafe atmosphere for our
passengers and crew,” the statement further read.
Following these incidents, “the captain taxied the airplane
back to the gate before departure and the passengers were removed.”
On the other hand, Janice Farrell sustains that she allowed
the flight attendant to place her bag in an overhead compartment and explained
that her child was suffering from autism and yelling at him would only make
things worse. But, the flight attendant did not take into consideration the mother’s
words and tried to tighten the seat belt around the child.
In the end, a pilot came into the cabin telling the boy that
he must stay on his seat, making his mother crying. This made the boy behave
even worse. “He was on the floor rolling around,” the mother told ABC News’
Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD.
That very moment, the pilot decided to turn the plane around
heading it to the terminal where both the mother and the child were escorted
off the plane.
Following this incident, Janice Farrell told reporters she would never fly American Airlines again. She also added that the flight attendants must be more understanding when dealing with special needs children.