P olice of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport escorted a family off of an airplane after it landed due to the tantrums of a child who is two years of age.
As a result of the first “meltdown”, the father of the child sat his son in his lap when the airplane operated by Frontier Airlines was still on the ground in Punta Cana prior to departure; but a flight attendant informed him of a policy where the son was required to be buckled in a seat prior to departure — despite assertions by the father that the crew members on the outbound flight to the Dominican Republic permitted the toddler to sit in his lap.
The flight attendant reportedly threatened to have the family removed from the aircraft if the child did not stop screaming and crying because he was being “too loud.”
Although the boy eventually calmed down, he launched into a second tantrum as the aircraft experienced turbulence during the flight to Saint Louis.
According to this article written by Mike Rush of 5 On Your Side for KSDK Channel Five News — a video is included with the article — “the captain of the plane involved police because the spokesman says the Khalfins were verbally and physically abusive to the flight staff. Claiming Sam’s mother, Regina, threw trash at an attendant, and tried to incite those around her.”
The mother later reportedly claimed that she was only gathering names and numbers of other passengers as witnesses to the incident.
The Khalfins disagreed and filed complaints with Frontier Airlines and the Attorney General’s Office in Missouri, according to the article.
This was supposedly the first airplane trip for young Sam Khalfin.
Many frequent fliers have long contended their disdain and lack of patience for children and toddlers on flights — such as this question about whether or not children should be banned from the premium class cabin, for example; or when there was the suggestion back in 2010 of having some airline flights reserved only for adults.
Could the parents of Sam Khalfin have done more to have prepared the boy for his airplane trip? Are they to blame for what had happened?
What do you think?
