Flight Attendant Takes Crying Baby Mom Slapped

(CBS/ AP)  Police say a Southwest Airlines flight attendant took a baby from her parents on a flight from Dallas to Albuquerque after the mother slapped the crying child.

The flight attendant told Albuquerque International Sunport aviation police she removed the 13-month-old after she saw the mother slap the girl and passengers complained.

Airport spokesman Daniel Jiron says paramedics checked the baby when the flight landed Monday. Police says no obvious signs of physical abuse were found.

And they praised the flight attendant for taking action. "I think," says Albuquerque Police Chief Marshall Katz, "it was a solid move on the part of the flight attendant to take custody of the child. It neutralized the situation. It calmed everybody down."

Aviation police returned the child to her parents after speaking to the couple, the flight attendant and other witnesses. The parents were not cited.

Katz says authorities felt it was an isolated incident - but authorities will check on the child again in two weeks.

[candyc4]

There should be a couple of lessons here.
No, slapping a baby is never okay. Where they slapped the child indicates the seriousness of the assault.
However, airline passengers need to show some tolerance and patience when travelling as well. My daughter arrived at the airport crying one time. She couldn't get her 10 month old to stop crying and the people in front turned around and really gave it to her. Some people have to travel with young children and sometimes young children cry and you can't figure out the reason. It may be annoying, but 'treat others as you would have them treaat you.'
I am pleased the stewardess took the action she did though. Over and over people witness children and animals being abused but they won't do anything to stop it. Have all of you stepped in when you know you should?I also can't figure out how the stewardess thought the incident serious enough to take the action she did, but authorities didn't think it was serious enough to hold the baby and contact child welfare services.

[lauralovesCBSNews]

As a child abuse survivor, I give my heartfelt thanks to the courageous flight attendant who took action when a young child was slapped during a flight. She was aware that she was legally required to protect the child from further abuse. She recognized that hitting such a small child in public was a sign of possible worse treatment at home and took action to protect the child. Too many of us look the other way when a child is being mistreated. My heartfelt thanks to her and my congratulations to Southwest Airlines for being lucky enough to have her as an employee!

[beverlyentropiii]

"but authorities will check on the child again in two weeks." - yeah, right.

[cktirumalai]

She was certainly a different kind of flight attendant from Steven Slater.
Candadai Tirumalai

[Jstsktnby]

Some body please show me where in this story it states the mother slapped the baby in the face?????

No I do not agree with slapping any child but really from this story all we know is that the mother slapped the child. It could have been on the hand, butt, thigh......

And by the way..... historically lets look at what the airlines, bus lines, society as a whole has done to parents who apparently can not stop their children from crying..... they get thrown off of airplanes, buses, trains..... so perhaps society has taught weak minded people that they need to control their children no matter what. I mean come on.... if you are out in public anywhere and a child is throwing a fit we stare even if we don't know why the child is throwing a fit. It makes the parent even more agitated because now everyone is staring!!!

[klmg89]

HELLO !!! SINCE WHEN IS IT OKAY TO HIT A BABY..{A 13 MONTH OLD IS JUST A BABY}...WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE AUTHORITIES...THE NEXT THING WE WILL READ IS THAT SOMETHING AWFUL HAS HAPPENED TO THAT SWEET BABY. I FRANKLY THINK THE BABY SHOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVD FROM THE FAMILY UNTIL FURTHER IN VESTIGATION HAS BEEN DONE.

[barbaram99]

Years ago we were riding on a city bus. There was a mother who made her young baby cry . She sat there pinching her. The mother was told to stop and the the woman said it is her baby and could as she saw fit..The driver told her to get off the bus at the next stop. She got off.
As for the face, no one should ever be slapped in the face. I was and now totally blind in one eye when I was slapped in the face. I won't let any one near my face.
Young children have diffent crying sounds and by slappng him/her is not the answer as they can't understand that action. There are brats both adults and children. The crew member is luckey as the mother could have turned..Humans are animals..They can't understand manners till older. I been on the Hound when young children were with their mother. For young children it is hell for them. One woman almost left her children in a restroom and walk..She was smart not to..The kids were fussy.

[watchful_eye]

Okay, no matter what REALLY happened, here is something everyone needs to understand:

It is NEVER OK to slap a BABY--A BABY--in the face for CRYING. It's like hitting them for ***** breathing or pooping!!!!

HELLO!!! How about trying to figure out WHY they are crying, or trying to soothe them!! Did the baby do something horrible or rude to deserve a slap??? NO. Because they are a BABY. IF YOU SLAP a BABY--it will make them CRY MORE because it is a BABY--they know nothing about self control until they reach a certain age of which you can start to constructively teach them about self control. Dumba$$es.

If you hit a baby for crying---you are negligent and do not care enough about that child OR are too stupid to rear him/her, and you should have your parental rights stripped.

[justme2you]

Well said.

[USMC-Mom]

Could not agree mew!

[sheirp]

Obviously slapping a child for crying is not a good thing.

But what this flight attendant did was horrific. Thankfully, the child's parents were rational people. Could you imagine what might have happened? The mother might have fought the flight attendant for trying to take haer baby. Natural reaction of all animals. Someone would come to the flight attendants aid and the father would have to defend his wife and child. Who knows what is happening to the child at this point? Several passengers join in the melee and all weight shifts to one side of the plane causing the pilot to make attempts to maintain stability. The air marshall pulls his gun to arrest the woman and man just as the pilot makes another correction and the gun goes off, piercing the skin of the plane. The cabin depressurizes and part of the fuselage is ripped away as the plane breaks apart and starts falling. Engines and fuel explode as parts of the doomed airliner rain down on an unsuspecting apartment complex below. Hundreds of lives are lost.
Unless they are beating the kid, leave them alone.

[justice_1965]

justice_1965: @ Shirp August 18, 2010@ 2:54PM EDT; There is no reason to slap a child regardless! Thank God the frlight attendant was there to take the child from the mother, regardless if the parents were rational or not. The mother was wrong and she realized that and on the other hand maybe the mother need a break from the child, but there are things God does that we as human will never understand and this was one of them. As to you, I do not understand where you are dreaming up. All came out just fine, thank God!

[MikeOnTheRightAZ]

And the lesson we learn is: Don't slap your ******* kid on a plane.

[aerieD]

How about don't use physical violence to discipline and/or punish your baby/child?

[ge556]

Some people are learning that violence towards children is inappropriate.
Others are stubborn in their old ways.