Flight Attendant Reportedly Told Captain Mom Made Threats

A 19-month old child and his mother were removed from an ExpressJet Airlines flight during a stop in Houston last month, on a flight from Atlanta to Oklahoma, when the mother reportedly refused a flight attendant's request to medicate the toddler to keep him quiet.

Kate Penland of Atlanta said she was told to quiet her son, Garren, and make him stop saying "Bye bye, plane" during the safety demonstration.

As the plane was taxiing in Houston, "he started saying, 'Bye, bye plane,'" Penland told WSB-TV in Atlanta. The flight attendant objected and told her, "It's not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up."

Penland asked the woman if she was kidding. Apparently, she wasn't because, "She then said, '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'."

The flight attendant then informed her the flight would be turning around and she and her son would be removed from the aircraft, even after other passengers defended her and the baby, Penland said.

"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 anymore diapers for the baby, no juice, no milk."

According to Houston ABC Channel 13, the flight attendant told the captain that Penland had threatened her and that's when he agreed to return to the gate. Penland denies threatening anyone.

Passenger and witness Sandy Taylor said the flight attendant  "in a real arrogant way she says, 'We're going back to the gate.'"

Another passenger, Stacey Watts, said the attendant told Penland, "If you do not leave the aircraft voluntarily - the authorities have been called - the police will come and remove you from the plane."

By the time they got back to the gate, Garren was fast asleep, Penland said.

Kristy Nicholas, spokeswoman for ExpressJet Airlines, confirmed the two were let off the aircraft and the carrier would be investigating.

FMI: www.expressjet.com