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'Disruptive' Autistic Teen's Family Forced off United Airlines Flight
When Dr. Donna Beegle and her family got on United Airlines Flight 1024 headed to Portland after visiting Disney World, they expected to be home later that day. The reason they didn't left them — and many passengers — bewildered. (koin.com) More...
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Regarding the parents, #1. The mother had apparently done this before but #2, she said the girl was a picky eater. How did the mother know what would be on the menu? #3. After she got the meal, she was settled and it was after that the diversion was made.
As Capt. Mike says, there is enough blame to go around for everyone but there is something not being told. PIC cannot always get up to check on things themselves, hence must totally rely on FA.
As Capt. Mike says, there is enough blame to go around for everyone but there is something not being told. PIC cannot always get up to check on things themselves, hence must totally rely on FA.
I agree, there is more to the story. Prior planning on the mother's part would have gone a long way in preventing this situation.
As I stated below earlier:
From the Snopes article, which you may not have read:
"Before boarding the Portland-bound flight, however, Beegle said Juliette had refused the food they bought and also would not eat the snacks they brought on board the plane. Juliette, like many people with autism, is clinically picky about the food she eats, and although she is high-functioning she has extreme difficulty communicating verbally. So in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating, Beegle asked a flight attendant if they could provide any hot food her daughter"
So, yes, the mother did take steps to try and head this off, before getting on the plane, and took the additional step of bring food with them onto the aircraft. The child would not eat what they had though. I don't see what more you could reasonably expect from the mother.
From the Snopes article, which you may not have read:
"Before boarding the Portland-bound flight, however, Beegle said Juliette had refused the food they bought and also would not eat the snacks they brought on board the plane. Juliette, like many people with autism, is clinically picky about the food she eats, and although she is high-functioning she has extreme difficulty communicating verbally. So in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating, Beegle asked a flight attendant if they could provide any hot food her daughter"
So, yes, the mother did take steps to try and head this off, before getting on the plane, and took the additional step of bring food with them onto the aircraft. The child would not eat what they had though. I don't see what more you could reasonably expect from the mother.
Excellent commentary.
Additional link to the story on snopes.com: http://now.snopes.com/2015/05/10/autistic-girl-removed/
Here we have a Doctor and a mother of a child who has autism, so she is not only well educated in her medical understanding and the ability to think about consequences BUT is also intimately familiar with her daughters issues. I'm fairly certain it is NOT the mothers first flight in coach but that is an assumption on my part. SO...if the child gets "upset" when she gets hungry and requires a hot meal, two choices...buy a first class seat or buy a meal from one of the many food joints on the inner side of security, bring it on board, and ask the flight attendants if they can heat it up when they have finished serving the other passengers. Prior phone call to the company explaining you are traveling with a special needs child could also solve this problem with them purchasing a special meal to be put on prior to departure. Did I mention that the Doctor/mother was an educated person. Secondly, as Preacher One said....what was relayed to the cockpit from the Cabin (based on experience) is sometimes more dramatic than the real situation. I find it interesting from the reports that the girl had actually calmed down prior to the divert so was the cockpit notified of this, was it asked by the cockpit, or was the cockpit just left in the blind and a decision made to divert without checking back on the "current" situation in the cabin. There could be blame to go around on everyone in this incident but I think the parents deserve some of the blame here as well.