now this is a great way for your baby to fly,NOT!!!

[NYDisneyKid]

http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/03/...?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl3|sec3_lnk2|204965

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, the flight attendant was wrong, and the airline was right to terminate him. But please. The kid is so traumatized from being in complete darkness for up to ten seconds that he's seen various specialists and won't let his mother out of his sight?

Text of the article linked above (for anyone who doesn't like to click on links )

Virgin Blue Admits Toddler Was Put in Overhead Bin
"Virgin Blue has fired a male flight attendant and is now offering a mother free flights after she was "devastated" when her toddler was placed in an overhead bin.

Natalie Williamson was on a Virgin flight from Fiji to Sydney when she claims a flight attendant picked up her 17-month old son, Riley, and placed him in the overhead bin and then latched it closed, according to a report by Australia's Herald Sun.

Virgin has admitted an incident did take place. However, the airline is claiming the flight attendant was joining in on a peek-a-boo game that Williamson's now estranged husband was playing with Riley.

"We conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and the staff member involved was subsequently terminated," a Virgin spokeswoman tells the news outlet.

The airline has provided the family with a credit for the price of the flights, and has also offered Williamson three free flights, but the mother says she is too shaken by the experience to redeem them.

"I stood up and there were people laughing and then I said 'Get my son out of there now'," she tells the Herald Sun.

"I was crying. My husband was in shock. For days on end I was crying," she adds.

The mother says Riley was locked in the compartment for up to 10 seconds in complete darkness. She claims Riley, now 20 months, has seen various specialists since the incident and has suffered from anxiety and withdrawal.

"He won't leave my sight right now. He sleeps with me. If I'm not in the same room as him, he will scream and yell," she says.

A Virgin spokeswoman tells the news outlet, "The safety of our guests is out top priority and we do not tolerate any breaches of this kind." "

 

[goofy4tink]

Have to agree. Yes, it was stupid to put the child in the overhead bin....the FA got a wee bit carried away. And yes, I wouldn't have been happy if it had been my child. BUT....who is God's name allows someone to take their child from them and then put that child in a bin??? I mean, seriously??? The father allowed this?? Can understand why they are now estranged!!
And to say that this child, who isn't even 2 yet, has been to specialists for trauma??

Again, it wasn't right to do what was done, but I think the mother is a bit overboard on this one.

 

[Jaymie]

Have to agree. Yes, it was stupid to put the child in the overhead bin....the FA got a wee bit carried away. And yes, I wouldn't have been happy if it had been my child. BUT....who is God's name allows someone to take their child from them and then put that child in a bin??? I mean, seriously??? The father allowed this?? Can understand why they are now estranged!!
And to say that this child, who isn't even 2 yet, has been to specialists for trauma??

Again, it wasn't right to do what was done, but I think the mother is a bit overboard on this one.

I couldn't agree more. I have an almost 2 yr old and NOT that putting a kid in an overhead bin is even remotely ok, but, I can't see how it would be any more tramatic to a kid them being in a dark closet. My DS6 puts his little brother in the closet all the time. No trauma there. Now for mom on the other hand, I think it would be more tramatic for a parent. But then again, as a parent, there's NO WAY I would let a flight attendant pick up my kid and get as far as to put him in an overhead bin. Not gonna happen!

Flight attendant sure got what he deserved.

 

[bumbershoot]

The AOL (and MSNBC article I read earlier) said:

the airline is claiming the flight attendant was joining in on a peek-a-boo game that Williamson's now estranged husband was playing with Riley.

Which kinda changes the tone of the moment in one's head....



OK I grew up riding Greyhound buses b/c our dad was a driver for them, and my brother and I used to purposely climb up into the luggage racks (when the bus was empty and stopped). Not enclosed, but the close in space was so much fun to be in. As a little kid I would have loved this. I'm saying this b/c it's not inherently traumatic, to be somewhere small and dark for a short time.

If my son had been put up there, he would have thought it was great fun for a moment, and since it was only 10 seconds, that's pretty much just a long moment IMO.



As for her kid's behaviour...for one, that's about the age when DS got even MORE clingy, which is totally NORMAL.

And second, her husband is now estranged from her...being a child of two divorces, divorce can cause clinginess in kids! Again, normal.

If I were going to pick "what's going to cause more changes in behaviour"...I'm going for "pending divorce" over "10 seconds in a dark space", personally....

 

[NYDisneyKid]

So Bumbershoot....
does that mean youre ok with the late Michael Jackson holding his kid over the balcony? or the late Steve Erwin holding his son close to the crocodile? was that done for 10 seconds of so-called fun? i think it was more like 10 seconds of being sick in the head. IMOP that is

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

That one is really of the top!......

I am the first one to complain about people filing suits that are wrong or just money hungry...but in this case.I have to join the other side..............the airline really owes this child for the tremor care at the very least!

However Mom stop crying, your not helping the child with that!

AKK

 

[dudspizza]

The AOL (and MSNBC article I read earlier) said:



Which kinda changes the tone of the moment in one's head....



OK I grew up riding Greyhound buses b/c our dad was a driver for them, and my brother and I used to purposely climb up into the luggage racks (when the bus was empty and stopped). Not enclosed, but the close in space was so much fun to be in. As a little kid I would have loved this. I'm saying this b/c it's not inherently traumatic, to be somewhere small and dark for a short time.

If my son had been put up there, he would have thought it was great fun for a moment, and since it was only 10 seconds, that's pretty much just a long moment IMO.

I have some friends who's daughters decided to play a "new game". They tied up their littlest sister in a dark closet and played the "Haunted Mansion Game" by blasting the music from the ride.......... the mom wasn't too happy, but I couldn't help but laughing out loud......... I now sing "Grim Grinnin Ghost come out to socialize......" every time I see the family.......

Though the FA should not have gone that far, I agree that the mom is WAY over the top on this....... there are many other issues here that the mom is trying to blame on the airline.....

 

[kkmauch]

No offense NYDisneyKid, but Michael Jackson's act and that of Steve Irwin, in my mind, don't even compare. Jackson was inherently putting his child in danger as was Irwin. This kid wasn't going to die in the bin for 10 seconds. I think you're exaggerating the situation a bit to draw comparison.

Don't get me wrong, the FA was way off base in thinking this was in any way OK. And the now estranged father is probably estranged for a reason. But I give a bit of blame to the mother for not stepping in (if she had the opportunity) and I think what she might be blaming on the incident could actually just be normal child development at this age and in the circumstances of divorce. Besides, there's a lot we don't know about the rest of the kid's life that could be far more traumatic. To compare to Michael Jackson and Steve Irwin's actions though, that seems a bit far fetched.

 

[bumbershoot]

So Bumbershoot....
does that mean youre ok with the late Michael Jackson holding his kid over the balcony? or the late Steve Erwin holding his son close to the crocodile? was that done for 10 seconds of so-called fun? i think it was more like 10 seconds of being sick in the head. IMOP that is

Was there a crocodile in the bin?

Was there a several story plummet only accessible by that bin?


No? Then they aren't the same and cannot be compared.

 

[disneychic2]

I think a lot of the child's behavior is directly linked to the mother's reaction. When I had to x-ray a child, if the mother was calm about it, the child was calm. The reverse was also true. The FA should not have done what he did, but if it was part of a game that the father was up to as well, it certainly makes a difference. FA used poor judgement, but as far as damaging the child, sounds like the parents are doing a pretty good job of that themselves.

 

[seashoreCM]

Was there a several story plummet only accessible by that bin?.

A several foot plummet from the bin could be quite damaging.

 

[bumbershoot]

A several foot plummet from the bin could be quite damaging.

Parents routinely and normally put children on their hips, putting their heads up at neck/head level of the parent. A fall from that height can be damaging as well. Some parents, especially fathers (possibly like the one the FA was interacting with during this time), will toss their children up well over their heads. A fall from that height could also be damaging.

So....I'm just not seeing the point. If the father were 6'8", as some men are, and a child fell from his arms...same thing. Of course, there was no fall in this situation.


My son got an ER visit, including an ambulance ride, because he was trying on mittens at Target. Not an inherently dangerous activity. But because DH put a hat on him at the same time, a hat that was most unpleasant for DS, and he jerked backwards and was unable to catch his fall (b/c Target's mittens are connected by plastic "wires"), he fell straight back and his head (thankfully covered in the thick fleece of the hateful hat) hit the corner of a metal clothing stand.

Which has taught me that accidents can happen anywhere. Not that we should just do any old thing, but it does give a perspective that others don't have...who would have thought that trying on mittens would be a bad thing? (and no, officer/EMT/doctor/nurse, he was NOT in the cart at the time....how many times did I answer THAT question that day? answer=countless)

The FA and the father probably weren't thinking in that moment. I'm assuming that the plane wasn't in the air since there was still ROOM in the bin. It just seems like a bit of silliness that maybe shouldn't have happened, but I'm having a hard time vilifying either of them for it.

Also, I can't imagine a child of that age NOT making it CLEAR if/when they wanted out. So I'm going to think that it was either a lot LESS than 10 seconds, or the kid wasn't upset at the moment.

I'm still going with the new behaviours as being a variation of normal for that age AS WELL as being because of the separation. If I had a good scanner I'd show the difference between how me and my brother's body language changed from when there was a dad around to when he had moved out. My whole personality changed after that happened, and you can tell in just the way I held my shoulders, how sad and skittish I became.

That's the end of it for me.

 

[seashoreCM]

Some parents, especially fathers (possibly like the one the FA was interacting with during this time), will toss their children up well over their heads. .

Warning, severe neck injury possible even when the child is caught "properly"..