By Caroline Bankoff From New York Mag

Little kids and airplanes are already often a bad mix — throw some urine in there, and you’ve got the nightmare that came true for one mother last Monday. Jennifer Deveraux told CBS Boston that she and her two daughters boarded a Boston-bound JetBlue plane at JFK Airport, only to find that the flight was delayed. After about a half hour of sitting on the tarmac, Deveraux’s 3-year-old, Summers, started crying about how she needed to go to the bathroom. But, according to Deveraux, a flight attendant yelled at her and Summers when they tried to get up.

As most people could have predicted, Summers ended up peeing in her seat. But even that didn’t convince the flight attendant to back down: Deveraux claims that the woman yelled at her again when she attempted to do something about the mess. “And I said, ‘Please give me a break. My daughter had an accident because you wouldn’t let me take her to the bathroom. After I clean it up I will sit down.’ She turned around and reported it to the pilot,” Deveraux explained. Things went from awful to hellish when the pilot announced that he was bringing the plane back to the gate so that a “non-compliant passenger” could be delivered to security. An off-duty pilot seated nearby then stepped in and convinced the crew to let her stay, which probably felt like a mixed blessing at that point, what with the pee puddle and all.

After her ordeal was over, Deveraux complained to JetBlue. She says that the airline offered her a $50 gift certificate, which doesn’t seem like enough, especially to anyone who saw the look on Summers’s face when she told CBS, “The girl didn’t let me go potty.” Meanwhile, JetBlue says that it is now investigating the incident.

For more on this story go to: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/06/woman-says-flight-attendant-wouldnt-let-kid-pee.html

Related story:

JetBlue flight diverted after dad loses it

By Caroline Bankoff From New York Magazine

It’s been a weird weekend for JetBlue: On Friday night, a woman went public with the story of how one of the airline’s flight attendants refused to let her 3-year-old daughter use the bathroom, resulting in an accident. And, on Saturday, a Las Vegas-bound JetBlue flight had to be diverted to Detroit after a customer completely lost it. In a cell-phone video of the incident, which took place about 90 minutes after the plane took off from JFK Airport, a man can be seen yelling, swinging his arms at people, climbing over his seat, and leaping into the aisle, where he was held back by crew members and some of his fellow passengers. He was then brought to the back of the aircraft, where his hands were restrained with plastic ties.

The footage, obtained by WABC, also includes a woman yelling, “Dad, stop it!”:

A Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport spokesman told CBS News that the guy was “fighting with his family and could not be controlled.” Meanwhile, a person who had been on the flight told WABC that it seemed as if he “was sleeping and woke up in a nightmare and lost his mind.” After the unruly passenger was removed from the flight, Michigan police took him to a local hospital. A FBI spokesman said that it’s not clear he will face criminal charges over the incident, which “did not rise to the level of threatening the aircraft.” Either way, we can probably add this man’s family members to the list of people having a weird Father’s Day.

For more on this story go to: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/06/jetblue-flight-diverted-after-dad-loses-it.html?om_rid=AACMTw&om_mid=_BTn0NhB86m-aTq