AIBU to think cancelling the flight over a child was excessive

[MrsShawnHatosy]

An airline cancelled a flight because a child refused to sit down and put their seatbelt on. AIBU to think they should have asked the parents to get off, rather than cancelling the flight and stranding the rest of the passengers?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/flight-cancelled-passengers-stranded-due-37532204

I think the only way to tell if a toddler/pre schooler will be ok on a plane is to take them on a plane (caveat some obviously are not and shouldn’t go anywhere near one) as lots of kids are fairly amenable generally and then freak out on a plane.

on that note I’d like to apologise to anyone on the Ryanair flight to Malaga when my dc were 18 months as they both screamed the whole way and I was bloody grateful to have grandparents with us.

There is no evidence the child is gently parented.

There is no evidence the child was 'parented' at all, two able bodied adults would be capable of restraining a 3 year old if they tried.

I hadn’t seen her apology when I wrote this.

I read the article properly the first time, didn’t need to read it again

Fair enough!

My apologies 😊

Well, quite a few have refuted this and I would agree. I can get my child away from a situation but I can’t restrain her very easily without risking injury.

Have you ever tried to get off an airplane that’s taxiing down the runway. It’s a plane, not a bus!

No wonder people were pissed off. Kowtowing to a small child who refused to comply. I can just imagine the parents " now come on Peregrine just sit down while we take off darling" surely one parent on each side could keep the child in place for take off . I would be fucking furious if my flight was cancelled because of this

I am not convinced the airline would have been happy with restraint being required to keep the child in their seat. It's not going to be reliable if the seat belt needs to be on for a long period. It's not the same as holding a child down for an injection or similar.

No indeed. All it takes is a moments weakness or tiredness and the child is released

I am sure the parents are absolutely mortified and very upset.

I need to be careful here, but there wasn't any indication at the airport or before takeoff that the boy was going to become distressed.
He was well behaved and frankly delightful. Anyone who's saying he needed a slap etc should be ashamed of themselves and perhaps wonder who is reading this

Agreed. Also the parents would have to be sat & seat-belted whilst trying to keep the child in place. It’s surprising that the airlines don’t have car seat style harness for small children. After all if the child can slide out then it wouldn’t really restrain them in an accident anyway.

pitiful parents - Probably gentle parenting ! kids need discipline in such situations and parents need to be in charge of their offspring !

But they can't fly with their luggage in the hold if they have disembarked in case its a deliberate ploy to leave something dodgy on the plane. Getting their luggage off would be a complete nightmare

Agree with previous poster that the airlines should carry 5 point harnesses for exactly this sort of thing, then loop the lap belt through it.

A lot safer and cheaper in this situation. The little boy can't be the only child who can slither underneath. Although I wonder if it was tight enough...

I must admit I am never sure one lap belt would be much use in an aviation disaster but I don’t know much about it!

👀

They've saved lives (e.g. East Midlands accident, and plenty others) and they are also great protection in turbulence.

I’m pretty sure the belts are only there to keep you in your seat during turbulence and minor emergency landings. No type of seatbelt would save you in an actual disaster so what would be the point? If you hit the sea/ground at speed you’re dead no matter what seatbelt you have on.

Edited to clarify when I say “in your seat” during turbulence I mean if the plane drops going through an air pocket etc. If you don’t have a seat belt on when it drops you’re likely to hit the ceiling and be injured.

I think you could hold a 3 - 4 year old down in his/her seat, with concerted pressure, and it wouldn't need to be violent.

That's the problem with the seat belt debate - the non-believers opt for the worse case accident where the dynamics mean no survival and don't look at survivability in other accidents.

If you dare have a look at the accident reports on flights such the BMI East Midlands accident (where the aircraft ended up partially inverted), the Sioux City DC-10 (where the aircraft broke up after a very hard landing but many survived..) or the Korean 777 at SFO..where the aircraft cartwheeled but there were only a very small number of fatalities and one of those was run over by a fire engine.

All the above had multiple survivors because many onboard were well restrained.

Listen love, I've picked my child up, folded him in half and attempted to get him in a car seat, I've persisted when given a black eye by a kick to the face, I can assure you there was no 'please get in the seat dear' there was physically putting the child where he needed to go. And I am telling you now, my son at 2 was the size of the average 4 yr old and you could not fold him into a seat he didn't want to go in without risking injuring him and actually injuring yourself. Peregrine my absolute foot you patronising person

Whatever way you're associated,.if you were an onlooker your kindness is refreshing, if you were the parent please accept my heartfelt empathy and knowledge that it could have been me and in many non flight scenarios has been me.

Hell hath no fury like an angry toddler

I sympathise @Velumental

i can’t force mine either. I’m relieved I’ve never had to.

BTW my bad in the last post, just to be clear the 777 accident I referred to was the Korean airline, Asiana, not Korean Air.

You are definitely incorrect, my son at that age we'd no idea he was Neurodivergent and most don't yet at that point. They just know they have a super strong kid whose a runner and very non compliant when stressed. You not I nor an entire fleet of nurses at a medical procedure once could not have held my son down in a seatbelt for the duration of a flight.

My brother who does triathlons asked if he could have a quart of my breast milk because something was fuelling baby hulk as we called him. Crawled at 6 months walked unaided at 7 months, scaled curtains trees and bookcases. I come from a big family with lots of kids and my son is a legend among them for his toddler antics.