A flight was delayed for nearly an hour after a young child refused to fasten his seat belt. He was then thrown off the flight (with his father). But how did it even reach that point?
Child Thrown Off Flight After One-Hour Seat Belt Standoff
LATAM 4049 was set to fly from Santa Marta (SMR) to Bogotá (BOG), a domestic flight in Colombia. But after pushing back, the captain returned to the gate when a boy onboard refused to follow crewmember instructions and insisted on keeping his seat belt unfasted. He also stood up and would not remain seated.
I’ll refrain from posting any images or video of this boy in this story (video here), but the incident was captured on video and shared on social media. In the video, one passenger can be heard screaming “remove him!” while another passenger yells at the flight attendant to “do something!”
(I don’t think a spanking would fly…)
Instead, a flight attendant made the following announcement over the PA system:
“Dear passengers, we inform you that if the flight regulations are not complied with, we cannot start the flight. They were not complied with, we had to return.
“And now we are waiting for the passengers who did not comply with the regulations to please disembark. We cannot start the flight this way due to safety.”
Passengers booed the father as he pulled his boy, who looked to be about three years old, and got off the flight.
LATAM has, thus far, not issued a statement concerning the incident.
I would ask even to take the link to the video down. We’re talking about a 3yo boy who it seems like had some dysregulation. It’s abhorrent that an entire flight would go after him. Then again, that is Preto’s Colombia.
I prefer dogs….
Parents need to teach their children about being in public and following instruction. CSNY told us this their song. Teach your children well.
arnos – you are an idiot. Rules are rules, no matter one’s age or mental condition.
Correct.
rules are rules.
Miller, and you’re an unempathetic, judgmental cretin with the EQ (and dare I say it, the IQ) of an amoeba. Have you even stopped to think that the child may be non-neurotypical? No, of course not. because in your self-centered world view it’s either David Miller’s way or the highway. Do the world a favour and go jump into the path of an airplane
Oh do shut up you armchair psychiatrist hack.
I’m a parent with a child with ADHD. Either hold the child down with their seat belt, drug them with diphenhydramine or melatonin, or don’t fly at all. Being non neurotypical is no excuse to not follow safety regulations
Popping the popcorn now….
Please make enough for everyone !!!
nothing a few licks with a belt cannot solve
Libs, don’t even start to whine about disciplining a child
Indeed, very quick, very effective and works 100% of the time delivering the required result.
My old man was a great believer in it although being Brits, it was always the sting and burn of the rattan cane which is if anything, more effective!
I would blame the parents. People who can’t bring up children correctly shouldn’t have them.
People who cannot teach their parrots good grammar ought not have parrots .
People who cannot train their cats to lay down and sleep ought not have cats .
This is why sterilisation would solve so many of the world’s problems.
I don’t believe in hitting a kid, but Dad should have at least pretended he was the boy’s father! Even if the child had some health/behavioral issues, that doesn’t give him the right to jeopardize the entire flight. People’s lives are at stake.
Kids need to learn that there are rules they must follow.
When I took my daughter at age 3 for the first time in flight, I took her to the airport to prep a week beforehand. Gave her a full tour, explained security, showed how the planes took off, and such. She felt comfortable at the airport and excited to come back. After that, she was basically a pro.
I did once need to take her for “timeout” to the lavatory but aside from that, she’s a pleasure to fly with (now age 8).
I feel bad and these things happen (shrug shoulders). I can see why the crew had to have them removed.
Consign the child to the stake. And make the father watch. Sometimes you just gotta go Old Testament on idiots like these.
As a parent, always carry duct tape. It solves so many of life’s problems. For this predicament, dad could have duct taped his kids wrists together. No way the kid is unbuckling his belt now. Plane takes off and everyone is happy. Except maybe the kid.
I’m surprised LADAMN actually cared about the seatbelt.
When three years old in 1962, I flew Pan Am’s new 707 from Brussels to New York with my mother. A little turbulence caused a martini to be spilled and I was fascinated watching the olive roll down the aisle which I apparently sought to replicate by gently bumping my head against the seat cushions of other passengers as I slithered between rows. An FA picked me up and returned me to Mom saying that someone might step on me. I was buckled in for the remaining several hours… good times.