MYAirline cites safety rules for asking family to disembark

 

The passenger says the child is just five days past his second birthday, and would have calmed down if he sat on his mother’s lap. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: MYAirline Sdn Bhd has cited a Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) safety requirement as the reason for asking a family to leave a flight from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, MYAirline said “as a matter of policy” it was mandatory for children aged 24 months and below to be seated with a parent or guardian using an infant seat belt.

“However, children above 24 months old must be fastened with a seat belt in their own seat for safety reasons,” the airline said.

The airline made the statement after a social media post from a man claiming that his family was almost removed from their flight because his two-year-old child was not seated, went viral.

The man claimed that the cabin crew refused to provide an “infant belt” or “seat belt extender” to allow the child to sit with its mother because doing so would violate the airline’s policy.

However, the man said his child was just five days over the 24-month threshold.

The man said his child was distraught and would not remain seated with the seat belt buckled, which prompted the cabin crew to repeatedly remind him to keep his child seated.

In the ensuing argument, he said the cabin crew chief then spoke to the pilot on duty, prompting him to announce over the plane’s intercom that the family would be disembarked by ground security if they did not co-operate.

MYAirline said it would be conducting a thorough investigation.

“Our aim is to identify the gaps in our service and take immediate corrective actions to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future,” the airline said. - FMT