Mom And Talkative Tot Kicked Off Plane

(AP)  The mother of a 19-month-old boy says she and her son were kicked off a plane after she refused a stewardess' request to medicate her son to keep him from talking.

Kate Penland, who lives in Gwinnett County in suburban Atlanta, said she and her son, Garren, had boarded the Continental Express plane last month after an 11-hour delay in Houston on a flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma City.

Garren kept saying, "Bye bye, plane," Penland recalled. And she said the stewardess objected.

"At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, 'It's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up,"' Penland told WSB-TV in Atlanta.

When Penland asked the woman if she was kidding, she said the stewardess replied, "You know, it's called baby Benadryl."

"And I said, 'Well, I'm not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight,"' Penland told the TV station.

Penland said other passengers began speaking up on her behalf, and the flight attendant announced they were turning around and that Penland and Garren were going to be taken off the plane.

"I was crying, I was upset and I was thinking, 'What am I going to do? I don't have anything with me, I don't have any more diapers for the baby, no juice, no milk," Penland said.

The young mother said she later learned the flight attendant told the pilot that she had threatened her. Penland said that never happened.

Express Jet Airlines released a statement saying, "We received Ms. Penland's letter expressing her concerns and intend to investigate its contents." Express Jet did not immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.

A fellow passenger told WSB none of the other passengers had problems with Garren and that Penland never threatened the flight attendant.

[Consumerist]

If the Continental flight attendant LIED to the Pilot by reporting a FALSE threat by a passenger, that attendant should be ARRESTED.

Also if true, then Continental should be giving this passenger MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for their threats and FALSE REPORTING OF A NON EXISTENT THREAT.

I have flown Continental in the past, and though I am sure most of their flight attendants are professional and obey the law, a few of them are unprofessional and abusive.

[roberta111]

The media should not be presenting a story until they know ALL the facts. When people don't have all the facts they then start speculating. The media actually does a spectacular job of speculating itself.
Posted by erasmus6 at 02:55 PM : Jul 14, 2007

I fully agree.
I'm really not on the side of either since we don't have all the facts.
I do want to know why these folks who are saying "sue the airline" aren't at all concerned that the AP is using a toddler to play on the emotions of the American public?
Surely there aren't that many people who blindly follow what the media says.
They don't have all the facts and the AP isn't presenting them with all the facts either.

[erasmus6]

The media should not be presenting a story until they know ALL the facts. When people don't have all the facts they then start speculating. The media actually does a spectacular job of speculating itself.

[family2007-2009]

Whether the AP story is biased or not, I cannot say, but a lot of the pro-airline folks in this discussion seem to be taking the story at face value. In fact, you almost wonder from at least a couple of the responses whether they would have wanted to do more than drug the child. :-(

[roberta111]

Go get a lawyer, sue the airline I would say, it's just a 19 month old talking.
Posted by jowand at 02:49 PM : Jul 13, 2007

I say sue the AP for such biased reporting. Shame on them for even allowing biased reporting like this. However, it's getting where biased reporting seems to be the only stories that get any attention.

[roberta111]

Personally, I find this story to be very biased. In my journalism classes, this story would have received a very low grade. A "D" at best.

We don't have all the facts here. The article is just working on getting folks upset at the airline and the flight attendant. The poorly written and biased article is doing just that.

When the media presents the whole story, then maybe we'll see unbiased reporting. Until then, the AP should be ashamed.

[hootsmun]

Planes are public places. (I nearly posted pubic places. LOL). Babies have every right to be on 'planes just like everyone else...and they don't STOP being babies once they get on board. It's not as if it was an expensive restaurant. She was trying to travel. This attendant was out of line. It's interesting that the other passengers were sticking up for this young mother. Also - 11 hour delay - they have the flight attendant to thank for that publicity.

[cdfoxtrot]

Our society is far too indulgent towards children and the flight attendant ought to be congratulated for trying to get this annoying brat to shut up on this flight. Isn't it enough that most homeowners each pay thousands each year in property taxes to pay for the education of other people's children?

I was once on a full flight where a woman in the row in front of me changed the diaper on her kid, while she sat there, and then handed the ***-filled diaper to the flight attendant, over the heads of two other people. The stink was unbelievable and I shudder to think of the airborne health risks we were all exposed to, due to this selfish, inconsiderate woman. No-one said a word. I was in a window seat and it was too late for me to do anything by the time I realized what had happened.

Why we all are expected to suffer the annoyances of other people's children is beyond me. What's the expression? Children are best seen and not heard?

[willnotfly]

All of you who keep defending the flight attendant's actions, in particular her suggestion to give the child benadryl are clearly not doctors. Often young children (and the elderly too) have a paradoxical reaction to benadryl. It makes them hyper, it does not make them sleepy. I would sue the stewardess for practicing medicine without a license.


The past 4 flights I have taken I have seen passive-aggressive, rude, out -of- line flight attendants. The most obnoxious tend to be older women. They need to be reminded they are waitresses providing a service. They are delusional if they truly believe their presence is a required safety measure. I certainly do not feel any safer flying because a stewardess has explained to me how a seat-belt works. I pay for my seat, you pay for your child's seat, you even pay for your dog ($85), who doesn't even get a seat. A waitress with that much power is a danger to everyone on that plane. Does anyone know if they removed her checked luggage? I certainly would not want to fly with luggage unaccompanied by a passenger. I'm pretty sure there are regulations against that.

[blue_eyes68]

go to abcnews.com...they haev more details. the child was excited as he saw other planes leaving for the runway. As they were leaving, given the chance, when up in the air I am sure he would have been occupied with other stuff and would have stopped. The flight attendant probably heard him say it a handful of times and because of her immaturity could not handle it. There were other passnegers who came to passengers defense, etc... had not even reach the runway yet, showed what little patience the flight attendant has...can you imagine if person was not happy what she would have been like?