I am so bloody mad that I could just...oh I don't know...whatever people do when they get this mad.

Have you all seen the article regarding AA throwing a mother and her autistic son off the flight.

Here is the link...I already emailed them a complaint and told them to expect more...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,371601,00.html

Just makes me spittin mad.

Missy

I saw this myself and was saddened by the whole situation. I can see both sides though. Maybe if they had been more trained in children with disabilities it would have kept the situation to a minimal. For example, allowing the mother to take a few things out of the bag she had to put in the overhead. However, at the point where the child was on the floor upset and uncontrollable, I don't think the airline had any choice but to turn the plane around.

I hope AA works with the mother to resolve this in the end. We had a serious issue with my husband's wheelchair (it was damaged beyond repair) and they were very accomodating to us.

There is no easy fix to this story.

Everyone will have their perspective on this. What should the mother have done? What should the flight attendant have done? and more important, what should the pilot have done?

I've seen autism and I've seen raging fits. An airplane is not place for anyone (I don't care how old), to have a raging fit. What if something happened, and someone got hurt?

I have seen children on planes. Some were crying, some were angels. It's hard enough for a regular 2 year old to get on a plane and stay calm for 2 hours, let alone an autistic child.

I don't think the mother thought this through. With more and more children being diagnosed with Autism every day, and I gather more people will be traveling, with their autistic children, I would imagine that the aviation industry is going to have to start teaching courses to their Flight Attendants.

How to deal with a handicapped child who is having a meltdown. Then, flight attendants can be trained to know how to deal with a child who is having a bad time of it.

This is just plain common sense. The flight attendant was clearly overwhelmed. She did not know what to do. The pilot did not know what to do either.

And the stuff with the bag, well I have no idea who is telling the truth.

It's a very hard call.

I don't blame them for getting angry, but what did he do that was so bad they had to kick him off? It sounds like the only reason was because he did wear his seat belt tight. Maybe there were other reasons?

Yes, it hurts when a problem changes our lives but after seeing the video and knowing how some autistic children react to things, yes it is not his fault, the disabled have rights, but not at the expense of others. When the plane landed in the Hudson and all got out, I wondered how me, in a wheel chair,could have gotten out. DH would try to carry me no doubt but would we both get caught in the waters? A touching love story of commitment and sacrifice but there'd be 2 kids without parents left behind or maybe they might be lost in their attempts to save Mom. My but do need to consider things. Like Melody says, 2 year olds are tough anyway on a plane. I take cruises, like anyone hopes there's no hurricane or earthquakes causing huge waves, but go knowing odds are with me. Tm not going (though I'd like to), on an Alaskan cruise, sure Alaskan ports and wilderness are not wheelchair friendly. I'll stick to the Caribbean with easy access shopping and bars.

If my child's teacher doesn't get it, that's a problem, as part of her job she should but those on an airline, it may be is not part of their job description, very outside of their experience or other factors must be considered. I don't work with planes, so I don;t know.