A family returning from Disney World were taken off a flight home after the pilot refused to fly the plane while their autistic daughter was on board.
Dr Donna Beegle was travelling home to Portland, US on a United Airlines flight when she and 15-year-old daughter Juliette were taken off at an emergency stop in Salt Lake City.
Juliette had refused to eat the food that her family had brought on board, and was eventually given a hot meal from first class after her mum argued that it would prevent any further issues.
But the family were escorted off the flight just thirty minutes later, when Dr.Beegle was told that ‘the captain doesn’t feel comfortable flying to Portland with your daughter on the plane’.
In the footage of the event, other passengers can be seen decrying the decision as ‘ridiculous’, while another says ‘That’s gonna be a lawsuit’.
Dr. Beegle is now planning to sue United Airlines, and said she aims to highlight the issue of autism and ensure that airline employees are properly trained to work with passengers that have special needs.
In a statement, United Airlines said: ‘After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive.
‘We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland’.
Dr Beegle is the head of an anti-poverty organisation, and had previously flown all over the world with her daughter to speaking engagements.
