United Airlines Severe Turbulance

One of the injured was a lap child. The feds really need to stop allowing lap kids. Buy a damned seat and bring an approved safety seat for your child or simply drive to your destination or stay home. There arent many things that irk more than seeing lap kids.
 
SeanD said:
One of the injured was a lap child. The feds really need to stop allowing lap kids. Buy a damned seat and bring an approved safety seat for your child or simply drive to your destination or stay home. There arent many things that irk more than seeing lap kids.
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While the parent in me agrees, I would be willing to bet there is some study out there that shows requiring a ticketed seat for 2 and under would result in more deaths because people would drive instead of pay more.
 
I highly recommend the book Attention All Passengers. The author addresses this very concept (among many)...that national law has determined that it's unsafe to be unrestrained in a 65-75 MPH vehicle...but totally fine at rotate and landing speeds of 130-150 MPH. A short article from the same author:

Kid's on Adults' Laps: The Most Unsafe Passengers on a Plane

And, yup, the airlines argue that the family will not fly without Jr., and he's not really worth $476 to Mom and Dad (sorry, chap), so...

Let's just say lobbying is alive and well. :)
 
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Ah being a cheap ass wins. My kid rides on my lap unless I am in my own airplane then I buckle his car seat onto the toilet seat so he can't see me.

Yes, I am heartless.
 
Next time we all meet up for cocktails, let me show you a gash on my head from a relatively low energy collision between two cars while being "held securely" in my mom's lap.

The era of the "lap rocket" needs to come to a close. If I take some cheap passengers kid in the back of the head during turbulence, amma get all Lawsuitty McGee.
 
From that faa.gov website mentioned above...

"Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap? Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence.

The FAA encourages parents to make the best safety choice by using an approved CRS during all phases of flight."

No, they don't. Not when it's buried under some backwoods federal page on a website that 99% of the general public does not use...and especially when this link is not offered as an option when I click that very, VERY convenient "lap child" box. No messages, no links, no warnings. Just a checkmark and done.

Safety is #1, right? Yes, it is, but we have to fly expensive planes, mang. We gotz bills!!! Fuel, luggage, and now these pilots are wanting to get more expensive! We desperately need that seat to increase our profits from $2 billion to $3 billion, brah! You have to understand! If you can read this, well, crap, the fine print is not fine enough!
 
Dugie8 said:
While the parent in me agrees, I would be willing to bet there is some study out there that shows requiring a ticketed seat for 2 and under would result in more deaths because people would drive instead of pay more.
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Would you believe that study was from the FAA itself?

http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?contentKey=1966

An excerpt: "The agency said its analyses showed that, if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket, families might choose to drive, a statistically more dangerous way to travel."

You can't make this stuff up.
 
SeanD said:
One of the injured was a lap child. The feds really need to stop allowing lap kids. Buy a damned seat and bring an approved safety seat for your child or simply drive to your destination or stay home. There arent many things that irk more than seeing lap kids.
Click to expand...

As a parent who has traveled with a child and brought a seat, I must say, the airlines do everything in their power to discourage their use.

Car seats, especially once the child is over 20lbs, are bulky and difficult to transport. Moving through the airport was not an issue, they make a strap that hooks them to a roller bag. However, once at the gate, we were only given priority boarding once, meaning I had to navigate down the isle with this bulky item trying not to hit people already seated. In order for the seat to fit as designed, I had to recline the chair all the way, which i am sure was none too pleasing for the passenger behind us. The seat barley fit between the two rows necessitating it be placed next to the window or it would trap the person on the inside, unless they wanted to crawl on the floor. There is no clearance next to the window making it very difficult to get the seat strapped down securely. If I flipped the seat around, front facing, then I still needed to have the seat reclined fully but then it meant the person in front would also have been kicked the entire flight, which I am sure they would have not enjoyed.

So, while I bought a seat, brought an FAA approved device trying to one protect my child and to also be less onf an inconvenience to others around us, it turned out to be the opposite. She had to sit with her knees bent in the seat, regardless of position, so about an hour into the flight, she wanted out. Wouldn't you? The seat in front of her was not able to be reclined and her seat had to stay reclined the entire flight. She was perfectly calm, quiet and pleasant the entire flight, but the seat was a huge pain!

Rant off.
 
Matt13C said:
As a parent who has traveled with a child and brought a seat, I must say, the airlines do everything in their power to discourage their use.

Car seats, especially once the child is over 20lbs, are bulky and difficult to transport. Moving through the airport was not an issue, they make a strap that hooks them to a roller bag. However, once at the gate, we were only given priority boarding once, meaning I had to navigate down the isle with this bulky item trying not to hit people already seated. In order for the seat to fit as designed, I had to recline the chair all the way, which i am sure was none too pleasing for the passenger behind us. The seat barley fit between the two rows necessitating it be placed next to the window or it would trap the person on the inside, unless they wanted to crawl on the floor. There is no clearance next to the window making it very difficult to get the seat strapped down securely. If I flipped the seat around, front facing, then I still needed to have the seat reclined fully but then it meant the person in front would also have been kicked the entire flight, which I am sure they would have not enjoyed.

So, while I bought a seat, brought an FAA approved device trying to one protect my child and to also be less onf an inconvenience to others around us, it turned out to be the opposite. She had to sit with her knees bent in the seat, regardless of position, so about an hour into the flight, she wanted out. Wouldn't you? The seat in front of her was not able to be reclined and her seat had to stay reclined the entire flight. She was perfectly calm, quiet and pleasant the entire flight, but the seat was a huge pain!

Rant off.
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Agree, the baby seats are a PITA. The ones they make for toddler ages are a lot easier. We have one of these for the rugrat.

http://www.onestepahead.com/Cares-A...cagpspn=pla"&gclid=CILTscTf1rwCFY17fgodxCYALg
 
Boris Badenov said:
Infants shouldn't be allowed in the passenger compartment in the first place. Maybe in the baggage hold, depending on the sound proofing.
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Yet, I've been in the cabin with a toddler that was on full volume 10 rows up, but never heard a peep from the infant that was across the aisle from me.
 
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