Chris Dainiak, Father Says Sick Son Was Ordered Out Of Safety Seat By Southwest Airlines

BEDFORD, N.H. -- A New Hampshire couple said Saturday that Southwest Airlines flight attendants put the couple's terminally ill son at risk by ordering him out of a safety seat and into a regular passenger seat for a flight home from Florida.

Chris Dainiak and his wife, of Bedford, were told to remove 8-year-old Nicholas from his protective travel seat for a Friday flight home from Orlando to Manchester, N.H., Chris Dainiak said. Nicholas suffers from a rare illness called Batten disease and can't walk, talk, feed himself or hold his head up.

The attendants agreed Nicholas would be safer in his special seat but didn't know if it was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, Dainiak told The Associated Press. He said the boy has used the seat on previous flights, including the Southwest flight that took the family to Orlando so they could visit Disney World.

He said he wants Southwest to develop a policy to ensure other people with disabled children aren't put in similar situations.

"They just wanted to cover their butts to make sure that they weren't going to be fined by the FAA and, therefore, they decided the best thing for Southwest was to put my son at risk," Dainiak said.

Southwest is looking into the particulars of what happened and contacted the family Saturday to learn more, said spokesman Brad Hawkins. He said the FAA has regulations regarding the size of medical seats, but he didn't know if the Dainiaks' seat was in compliance.

Comments

[KIVPossum]

01:45 AM on 12/28/2011

It should be easy enough to look up the regs on safety seats. If the rules are so complicated a flight attendant who works with people and seats daily does not know them, they need to be rewritten

[tyrekecorrea]

12:36 AM on 12/28/2011

This incident made me upset and angry. I shall have to write Southwest Airlines and tell them about themselves.

[Robert Wells]

11:32 PM on 12/27/2011

I have been a frequent flyer with Southwest. Too bad this had to happen. I guess the industry needs a bit more competition in the market.

[feuille derable]

03:42 AM on 12/27/2011

Merry Xmas, Southwest. The US has lost its common sense.

[Tinyttc]

09:58 PM on 12/26/2011

Are you kidding me Air Vice Marshal Park, Drvannostran, ltobleck, GraftonReed...You guys need to learn how to read! No where in the article does it say that the father admitted he knew the seat wasn't FAA regulated...I know for a fact those seats are FAA approved! You people need to quit bashing parents with children disabled or not! It is the Airlines JOB to make sure they know the requirements and regulations for medical/car seats b/c that is their job! Further more If the child has a medical seat then its b/c a doctor said it is needed therefore, unless the flight attendants are doctors they have no business taking a child out of their seat. I am embarrassed for the family at the way you guess are bashing them. Obviously you don't have any disabled family members or you must not give a crap bout them if you do!

[Air Vice Marshal Park]

01:57 AM on 12/27/2011

If you know for a fact that these seats are FAA approved, you will surely give us the link to the FAA Advisory Circular that states that. We are waiting.

[AmazedOne]

03:28 PM on 12/28/2011

In an article in the Nashua telegraph http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/944429-196/story.html the father states he knew that the seat was NOT FAA approved. The airlines and crews job is to ensure the SAFETY of ALL passengers, not just the safety of ONE passenger. This could have easily been avoided if the family would have made arrangements prior to the flight.If I remember right there is even a section while booking online asking about special needs, and I guess in this case a phone call and person to person conversation would have been in order to arrange whatever was needed for the child.

[Joethelastonehere]

06:28 PM on 12/28/2011

There are no FAA approved seats for children with disabilities. According to SW, it is up to the pilot to determine if he wants to allow the seat. If he does not allow it, you can file for a petition:

FAA Petition for Exemptions

You must send a petition for exemption 120 days before you need the exemption to take effect. Your petition for exemption must include:

Your name and mailing address. You may include other contact information such as a fax number, telephone number, or email address
The specific section or sections of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) from which you seek an exemption
The extent of relief you seek and the reason you seek the relief
How your request would benefit the public as a whole
Reasons why the exemption would not adversely affect safety, or how the exemption would provide a level of safety at least equal to the existing rule
A summary we can publish in the Federal Register stating:
The rule from which you seek the exemption
A brief description of the exemption you seek
Any additional information, views, or arguments available to support your request

If you want to exercise the privileges of your exemption outside the United States, you must state the reason.

[DMGMD]

05:35 PM on 12/26/2011

Seems Southwest has apologized: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/944429-196/story.html

[aicequeen36]

10:45 PM on 12/26/2011

Thanks for the link

[Air Vice Marshal Park]

03:43 PM on 12/26/2011

How hard would it have been for the parents to contact the FAA and find out if the seat is on the approved list? It seems that some preparation by the parents was in order here and they could have requested a letter or circular from the FAA that shows the seat to be approved.

Don't expect a Flight Attendant or Captain to have memorized this list ahead of time "just in case".

[KathyinCT]

04:31 PM on 12/26/2011

WHAT A HATEFUL THING TO DO -- blame the parents.

SOUTHWEST flew them TO ORLANDO with the seat.

Did you bother to read the whole story?

IF Southwest had a problem -- why didn't it surface THEN??????????????????????

Flight attendants, pilots and airline ground staff ABSOLUTELYl should know what the rules and regs are.

[Drvannostran]

05:19 PM on 12/26/2011

There's nothing to indicate that having this kid sit in a regular seat is going to cause him any undue harm, and from the sound of it, sitting in a regular seat did not cause this kid any undue harm. I'm sure you probably think giving a dog a cracker with peanut butter on it is a HATEFUL THING TO DO. You should try it it's really funny (tape on a cats feet is pretty good too).

[DebKC7]

05:19 PM on 12/26/2011

we do know the rules and regulations. That's why the seat must have a attached tag, from the manufacturer, on it saying it's FAA approved. Why it was allowed to be used going to Orlando, MCO, I don't know. Either someone "looked" the other way or just didn't care.

Read a post further down by the site that's supposedly helping Nicholas. I did and the latest posting was about a fund raiser in June/July 2011. They actually said in their posting the father knew it WASN'T FAA approved. End of story.

Father didn't care. He knew it would cost the airline thousands of dollars in fines and the flt crew could be written up. (The crew could also be personally fined, BTW). With that type of write up it could mean their jobs. Not to sound mean or anything, but do any of you think there would have fund raisers for the people who were fined or lost their job?? Don't think so.

[UmYeah]

02:42 PM on 12/26/2011

What's going on with all these airlines kicking everyone out of the plane and matters like these? IS THIS THEM AGAINST US mentality? They make us pay for everything with little no service then gets an attitude. These jokers aren't making it easier for travelers and that's why they are losing in the game of customer services / $$$$$$...They got it all wrong.

[ltobleck]

01:30 PM on 12/26/2011

I also have to stick up for SWA. They have an excellent history of handling what they call "Blue Card" preboards, which I am sure this child and family were. I think that the SWA policy of letting "Blue Cards" preboards take the front row or first few rows of seats is actually a safety hazard in times of emergency as they can block the isles as they try to get up and exit. The father states that the seat is not FAA approvrd and if an FAA offical was on this flight and ticketed SWA for a violation it could be thousands of dollars fine and the flight crew would be written up for this violation.

[promisenicholas]

01:39 PM on 12/26/2011

thanks for your opinion, you seem to have read our website.
please email me if you have any questions about Nicholas or Batten disease
www.ourpro­misetonich­olas.com

[DebKC7]

05:22 PM on 12/26/2011

I looked at several of your sites that come up when you put in www.ourpromisetonicholas.com or just "ourpromisetonicholas.com" and the newest posting is from June/July 2011 for a fund raiser

[KathyinCT]

04:31 PM on 12/26/2011

Then why did SWA let them use the seat on the flight TO Orlando??????????????????????

[GraftonReed]

12:30 PM on 12/26/2011

Southwest bends over backwards to accommodate the disabled. You don't knowingly go against FAA Regs. They are there for a reason, in case of an accident and evacuation blocking the isle. If it were so dangerous to his health, why did the parents allow him to continue? So they got away traveling in this manner in the past. Apparently & luckily, the staff on board new the safety regulations.

[maduck11111]

11:13 AM on 12/26/2011

Dear Southwest,

You have a good thing going here with you prices and no baggage fees but, DO NOT loose your ability for understanding people with disabilites and their familes. You must start learning the does and don't of our families. My son who flew to Denver from Florida was plopped down in the front row, his carry on with his lunch and IPod thrown into an overhead. At that point he was ignored for the rest of the flight. By taking all his things away he was afraid of asking for them back. So he went with out his lunch and pills. If you do not have any one to train you, my partner and I will come and train your staff where ever you need us . We have trained Doctors, nurses, politician, schools, and lawyers. you name it we have done it for 30 years.

[julienashville]

10:17 AM on 12/26/2011

you gotta be kidding me. I am the parent of two disabled kids, southwest has always been good to us but some attendant was bored on this trip. Pilots have the say on their plane. Parents are looking for a standard not a settlement. If they felt it was a life endangering thing they would have opted for a refund, my guess is they just wanted to get home. Parents deal with this crap from John Q. Public all the time...I've had Granny run with her kids to the elevator to beat "the kid in the wheelchair". We're all sick of it but then as you can read from the comments we live in a sick country. It is a civil rights issue and a shame in 2011 we have to fight the same battles as in the 50's. John Q. Public can't even stop staring at the disabled....maybe we should get Tshirts ...
"stop staring stupid".

[maryk4d4]

11:18 AM on 12/26/2011

When I was 7 my cousin Wendy came into this world and she looked perfect. When she didn't start talking when a child normally would the dr said oh she will, she just has too many people that are willing to talk for her. Eventually the family was told that she was "retarded". Don't shoot me...that's the word that they used. Even with speech therapy she will never speak normally. She is 46 physically but about 8 mentally. To carry on a conversation with her you must listen carefully and have patience. In '99 I was talking to my aunt about the difficult road it had been for Wendy and her family. I told Aunt Joan that I firmly believe that being raised with Wendy in my life has made me a better person. I am comfortable around people with disabilities. I am patient and a good listener. Aunt Joan started to cry, she told me that no one has ever said anything like that to her. Unfortunately most people don't have a Wendy in their life. They don't know how to react or respond. The tshirt you suggested isn't the answer. You'd be messing up an opportunity to educate.

[mamasilverhair]

11:41 AM on 12/26/2011

You have a wendy...I had a "pie"... She is still my best friend. Always will be.

[Bill1966]

02:03 PM on 12/26/2011

Guess by now, you'd be used to it and done complaining. But no, you're not.

[JDProf]

10:09 AM on 12/26/2011

How did this become a story? Which parent sought the media is really my question.

[Moroni Carlie]

10:05 AM on 12/26/2011

whats always amazed me is how people are so willing to judge but are they any better than the next person ??????

[mjnsdv]

10:04 AM on 12/26/2011

MY HEART ACHES FOR THE LITTLE NICHOLAS, THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY