I don’t think any parent takes kindly to having their child’s behaviour criticized. If the crew appeared to side with one set of passengers and intervene it would most likely only inflame the situation. I also work with a colleague who has an eight year old autistic son. Any public outing comes with the risk of a tantrum and poor behaviour. There is no means of predicting when the boy is likely to misbehave and since his condition is not obvious the family are subject to a lot of hostile stares and comments from critical strangers. I guess there are different rules when it comes to children.


I guess if a passenger refuses point blank to comply with a request the only thing left for the crew is physical restraint. As the video demonstrates this comes with risks, particularly if the crew members are then subject to investigation for using excessive force. In your earlier post you mentioned that the passenger was not aggressive, unlike Kegan Dull who was attempting to open the emergency exit and was confrontational with other pax. Perhaps this was the best way of managing the situation in the aircraft, although I would hope that the authorities were alerted and were waiting for him after disembarkation.