A woman says she has filed complaints against United Airlines for kicking her family off a flight to Portland, Ore., saying the flight crew improperly judged her autistic daughter to be disruptive.
Donna Beegle told ABC News that her family was flying home last week when she tried to get hot food for her 15-year-old autistic daughter, Juliette.
Beegle said Juliette can get “frustrated and antsy” if her blood sugar drops and that she won’t eat food at room temperature.
Beegle said she ran into resistance from a flight attendant to get the hot food.
But after Beegle said she had a “child with special needs” who could “have a meltdown” if she didn’t get the hot food, a flight attendant brought Juliette some, according to Beegle.
Juliette was fine after eating and started watching a movie, Beegle said, but the plane was diverted to Salt Lake City for what an announcement described as a passenger with “a behavior issue.”
They were then escorted off the plane.
In a Facebook post, Beegle said fellow passengers agreed Juliette was not disruptive. She attributed the decision to boot their family from the plane a “sheer case of ignorance.”
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