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Author Topic: Pilot kicks the crying kid off the plane Michael Gonzalez Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 790 From: Grand Island , NE USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 10-15-2003 08:19 PM                     http://www.kypost.com/news/1997/baby122997.html Crying child kicked off Delta flight By Crystal Harden, Post staff reporter One family's rights collided head on with the safety and comfort of other passengers aboard a Delta flight last month when a pilot ordered a mother and her screaming child to disembark before take-off. LaVonne McCord of Grants Lick in Campbell County and her 2 1/2-year-old son, Patrick, were ejected as the plane was about to depart from Louisville to Orlando. A Delta spokesman said the two were removed for safety reasons. The boy was uncontrollable and wouldn't stay seated, Delta spokesman Todd Clay said. The bottom line is the pilot is in control of the aircraft and can make decisions about what action needs to be taken to ensure the safety of passengers, Clay said. Mrs. McCord believes the pilot should have been more patient. Her son would have been fine once the plane started moving, she said. What happened to Mrs. McCord and her son is an example of a new ''zero tolerance'' philosophy encouraged by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has urged airlines to crack down on unruly passengers. FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said any conduct that threatens the safety of the airplane or the passengers needs to be addressed. The FAA's new guidelines were prompted by reports of increasing incidences of violent or disruptive behavior aboard commercial aircraft. Flight attendants and pilots have been punched, stabbed, grabbed and verbally abused by passengers. The zero-tolerance policy is aimed at adults who misbehave, not necessarily children, but ''adults are responsible for the children,'' Herwig said. Still, Mrs. McCord believes removing her and her child was unwarranted. The two had boarded the flight to Orlando, where they planned to rendezvous with her husband, Pat McCord, who had driven to Florida. Mrs. McCord put her luggage in the overhead compartment, then tried to sit down with her son. ''He got upset and started crying,'' she said. A flight attendant asked the two if they wanted to move to the front of the plane, where there was more room. ''We were trying to get situated, and Patrick was crying and crying and crying,'' Mrs. McCord said. ''The pilot came over and said "Son, you need to sit in this seat and you need to be quiet.' I put the seat belt on him, and he tried to wriggle out.'' The pilot came back a second time and asked the two to leave, she said. Mrs. McCord said that she pleaded with the pilot, but to no avail. Delta paid for a room for the two and scheduled another flight for them. Mrs. McCord reached her husband on a cellular telephone in the truck he was driving in Florida. ''They had no money, no clothes. I had everything. She had a little carry-on bag and a stroller,'' he said. When he arrived in Orlando, he caught a plane to Atlanta, then to Louisville. On his flight, at least four babies were crying uncontrollably, McCord said. The family finally got to Orlando for their once-a-year vacation, but ''our trip was just totally ruined,'' he said. ''My wife was so upset over the situation I actually took her to the hospital. Her stomach and nerves were just shot.''  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-15-2003 08:27 PM                     quote: Mrs. McCord believes the pilot should have been more patient. Her son would have been fine once the plane started moving, she said. Yeah! Once the plane is in the air THEN the pilot can kick them out!  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-15-2003 09:03 PM                  Right on Randy! >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-16-2003 12:37 AM                     Something is missing from that equation. I mean, when I was a little kid and started behaving like a brat I got my ass whipped immediately. Zero tolerance. I'm sure most others in this forum have similar experiences. It sounds like the lady was taking the wimpy-ass be nice and hope the kid calms down route. Big f**king mistake. IMHO, this is why so many kids these days are such horrible assholes. No consequence to acting like a little shithead. I would not put it past some kids these days to fling open an emergency exit and depressurize the plane just for kicks. My feeling is the pilot was correct in booting the two off the plane. Parents need to have better control of their kids. If they are unwilling to use some "corporal punishment" to gain control they don't need to be riding on planes or visiting movie theaters either.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-16-2003 12:46 AM                        Problem is, Bobby, that when real parents discipline their little assholes, other people around them admonish the parents for being so "cruel" to the child. So most parents won't discpline their little assholes in public in the manner in which they should be disciplined. And yes, all kids are little assholes.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-16-2003 01:54 AM                     Joe -- I like to think of you as a big kid. I guess that makes you a big asshole? Back to our lead story -- I used to work for an airline and I've had to eject passengers as part of that job. And this was waaaaaaaay back in the late 80s. Long before 9/11 and the "new" zero tolerance. You can't deal with the "promise" or "hope" that things will improve after the door is closed and the plane starts moving. Everything has to be kosher before the door is closed. We even had a case where a flight was in line for take-off and came back to the gate because a passenger was getting out of line with one of the flight attendants. Get 'em outta there.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-16-2003 01:59 AM                        I agree... if I was the pilot I'd have kicked them off too. Maybe it's just because I come from a family of pilots... maybe it's because I think I actually have a grip on reality. Hell, she's lucky the airline put them up for the night and let them take another flight.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-16-2003 02:27 AM                        You hit the nail on the head, Manny! I am indeed a big asshole!  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 10-16-2003 07:13 AM                     You are preaching to the choir, Joe. If I had acted like 'little Patrick' when I was a little monster, I, too, would have gotten a good tanning. Believe me, it happened... alot! Would YOU want to sit on a plane with a screaming kid nearby? As an adult who no longer screams, I sure wouldn't. I'm currently working in a 'retail' setting. You wouldn't believe what some peoples kids do in our store when they come in with their parents. Most of the time, the parents just ignore them. Sometimes, they scream at the kids in a voice that could shatter glass: "GET THE **** OVER HERE!" It floors me when I hear parents cursing their children to their faces. Ever had a 6-8 year old tell you to f*** off? I did on Tuesday.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-16-2003 07:25 AM                    I would not put it past some kids these days to fling open an emergency exit and depressurize the plane just for kicks. I do not think that is physically possible to open the aircraft door against the pressure difference. But I agree with the pilot; it should be done more often.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-16-2003 08:19 AM                     The Pilot was dead on right in what he did!!!!!!! I can speak first hand of an experience in which a screaming child was in the seat right behind me all the way from Seatac to Cincinatti. The kid cried the whole way and continued crying through the terminal in Cincinatti till I lost them on the way to my connecting flight. The connecting flight from Cincinatti to Chicago was nice though aboard a monsterous old dinosaur L-1011 that had only three other people on it. Talk about friendly service on a flight..... Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 10-16-2003 01:28 PM                        Been there, done that. Not one of the more pleasant aspects of being an airline pilot, but I value an orderly ship above all things. Although a screaming child can be an annoying thing, even as I feel sorry for the little bugger, a person running around in the cabin during a seat-belts-required flight segment is simply unacceptable, both for safety-of-flight and company liability reasons. So kid and mom get booted, not for the screaming but for mom's inability to keep the kid belted in his seat. On second thought, the screaming by itself could be a bootable offense if it's loud enough and continuous enough to interfere with safety-of-flight PA announcements. The claim that things would get better once under way would not inspire me with confidence (cabin pressure can play havoc with young one's ears--the usual reason for kids crying on planes). As for opening plug doors on the ground, that can be a concern. Once in the air the cabin pressure differential quickly builds to the point where the door cannot be opened against it. But on the ground there is very little or no differential, so opening is possible. I've seen it happen with plug doors--depending on what was done with the door once opened, it could as minor a thing as calling line maintenance to re-insert the door and re-safety wire the release handles--about a half-hour delay. But if the door got tossed out onto the wing (as called for in some evacuation instructions)--that plane ain't goin' anywhere until after an inspection. Which will lead to something longer than a minor delay... Ultimately it's the captain's call--as is everything once his ship leaves the gate. But oh the paper work and visits with management pilots (for sure your FMT and maybe the chief pilot of your domicile) that follow such a booting!  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-16-2003 03:53 PM                        Here is a really stupid question: Once the plane flies in high altitudes, the pressure outside is much lower than in the cabin. Why then is it not possible to open the door because of the pressure difference?  |  IP: Logged Mike Williams Master Film Handler Posts: 255 From: Knoxville, TN Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-16-2003 04:08 PM                     quote: Here is a really stupid question: Once the plane flies in high altitudes, the pressure outside is much lower than in the cabin. Why then is it not possible to open the door because of the pressure difference? I'm sure Paul could answer this better, but I've noticed a lot of aircraft doors actually open inwards... so my guess is the cabin pressure keeps it in place (closed).  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-16-2003 06:17 PM                        Mike is correct, Mike. The emergency exit plugs must be pulled in before they can be tossed sideways through your new found hole. I'd hang on to it though, some of the doors will float.  |  IP: Logged

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