Toddler thrown off flight over seatbelt row
Italy: BA defends decision to remove two-year-old and his grandparents
Today’s newspapers all tell the tale of two-year-old toddler Marcello Ferrand, who was reportedly ejected from a British Airways flight, along with his grandparents, for refusing to wear a seatbelt.
The grandparents and the toddler were due to fly from Milan to London when the incident occurred. Peter van Schalwyk, the boy’s grandfather, said: “We had trouble getting him to put on his seatbelt. Three cabin staff crowded round him and were quite aggressive. When one appeared with a special child seatbelt, Marcello took fright and hid under the seat. He was scared and he cried a bit but he was not screaming madly or anything. It’s not like he was Dennis the Menace taking the plane apart.”
An unnamed source at British Airways told the Daily Mail that neither Marcello nor his grandmother had been wearing their seatbelts, which was “incredibly dangerous” while the plane was taxiing.
A spokesman for the carrier said: “Safety is the crew’s first priority and it is imperative for all passengers including children to be wearing a seatbelt during take-off, landing and when the seatbelt sign is on. The captain was called and reinforced the importance of being strapped in the chair. After speaking with the accompanying adults, he made the decision to offload the family.”
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