Flight Attendant Takes Baby after Slap from Mom

Lately, flight attendants have been serving up more drama than daytime TV. People are still talking about JetBlue attendant Steven Slater’s now-famous in-flight freak-out and emergency slide ride. This week’s flight attendant headline, however, involves a much more sobering plane encounter:

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant took a 13-month-old girl away from her parents after the mother slapped the child during a flight, CNN reports. The flight attendant and witnesses told police the parents exchanged heated words over how to quiet the crying child before the mother slapped the child in the face. The attendant decided to intervene and brought the child to the back of the plane to calm her down.

Once the plane landed at Albuquerque International Sunport, police questioned the parents and had the child examined. The child had a black eye, which the parents told police was from a recent dog bite. The police ultimately released the parents, and no charges were filed.

Traveling on a plane is stressful -- period -- without even adding a screaming baby into the mix. But it can also be a frightening experience for babies -- confined spaces where they can’t crawl or walk, loud noises, bumps and dips, that uncomfortable ear-popping sensation, etc. It’s enough to make some adults want to cry. Clearly, emotions were running high for this family, and it became serious enough that the flight attendant felt the need to step in and diffuse the situation.

Do you think the flight attendant did the right thing? Have you ever stepped in when you saw someone mistreating their child?