Despite multiple requests to calm down, the man continues to scream.
Flying with a baby is not an easy task. Some babies are just not patient enough to wait through airport security while others could start crying due to sudden and jarring shifts in air pressure. This often results in children throwing tantrums and crying as a result of discomfort, which often becomes embarrassing for the parents. In a similar instance, a passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Florida became uncomfortable and lost his cool over a crying baby, as per a report in USA Today.
The incident was reported on camera and clip went viral. It shows the building of tension on the flight, which had to make a stop at Palm Beach due to poor weather. In the short clip, the child can be heard screaming while the airline crew is trying to diffuse the situation.
"Can you calm the child down, please? I had headphones on. I was sleeping," a man asks a flight attendant in footage, recorded by a passenger. He adds, "Why is the baby yelling? I'm not screaming. Want me to scream? I'll scream. Please stop the baby. We are in a tin can with a baby in an echo chamber... Can you lower that voice?"
The passenger next to him tries to calm him down but the man continues yelling. As the video progresses, other passengers also remind him that he is a mature man arguing about an infant.
"I paid for a ticket to have a comfortable flight. That child has been crying for 40 minutes!" the man argues.
However, despite multiple requests to calm down, the man continues to scream. The crew then alert the authorities. The video ends with the man being carried out of the Orlando Airport by security and law enforcement personnel while he accuses the parents of failing to keep the baby quiet.
In the whole clip, Mark Grabowski, the passenger who recorded the video can be seen smiling and giggling at the camera. "It was a little bumpy and uncomfortable for everyone and the child was upset, but we couldn't get up because of the weather, and we were strapped in our seats. Just out of nowhere this other passenger in the video basically said shut that baby up, and it escalated from there," he told FOX35 local station.
He also said that flight attendants relocated the woman and her baby to another area of the aircraft.
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said, "We commend our crew for exhibiting outstanding professionalism while handling a challenging situation and we appreciate the patience of our other customers onboard who had to experience the behaviour."