I wonder when the 100th person died if confetti and balloons dropped from the sky.

I think that with GM, the thing was that they didn’t take the issue seriously enough initially (like not changing the part number upon re-engineering the defective part), and then they only started covering it up when it became apparent that it was a major issue and that they hadn’t performed due-diligence at the…

Blows me away at how ignorant a lot of people are commenting down below. I don’t think people stop and think about this country’s views towards disturbances on planes. Had they not had passengers removed and a huge incident ensued, then a bunch of people would be pissed. They did have them removed and only one group…

I work for Ford and you wouldn’t believe the amount of crap people put on their keys and come in with ignition switch issues or broken keys. That doesn’t prove that GM wasn’t at fault, but some people don’t understand what all their Panama City tchotchkes are doing to their car.

The mother made the following statement to KPTV. “If it’s warm she won’t eat it, if it’s cold she won’t eat it, it has to have steam rolling off of it.”

That was my entire point. Yeah, the airline could have accommodated them. But the onus is on the travelers to arrange this sort of thing ahead of time.

Upfront: I think the pilot probably made the wrong decision, if for no other reason than it was insensitive.

I have to half heartedly side with the flight crew, for a few reasons.

So here is where she made a mistake:

Once someone makes a “threat” of any kind — which mom kinda sorta did — the pilot and staff have a decision to make. If they ignore it and something catastrophic happens, it’s then on them and people begin asking why they didn’t handle the situation more decisively.

I think even if you were feeling a bit entitled to begin the whole thing, and ended up getting made a spectacle of you, and escorted off a plane by the police after it made an emergency landing just to get rid of you - even overlooking any potential trauma this would cause to the autistic daughter, you’d be in a…

The stewardesses probably could’ve stood to have been more accommodating, but it sounds like the biggest mistake was the mom’s use of the word “meltdown”.

Remember when drivers existed that could be driving and lose power steering and power brakes and not die? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Honestly, if I’d been on that flight I’d be annoyed at both United and the parents. United, because this seems like a complete over-reaction, and the extra time that pointless stop added to the trip would annoy me. The parents, because if your child will not eat cold food and can’t behave semi-appropriately for an…

I’m actually not convinced that this kind of coverup is endemic to just GM. I think the other automakers—including Ford—would try to pull a similar stunt if they thought they could get away with it.

I certainly don’t want to discriminate against anyone with a mental disease, but the best we can do is speculate that “probably” nothing would have happened. With 170 others aboard, I’m fine with the pilot’s decision.

The mother probably when overboard on her fear mongering. Like you said, she basically said her daughter would hulk out and go rabid on the passengers. I think the mother shares more of the blame here than United.

They’re unbe-weaveable. :)

I totally agree that Honda should have made a proper Accord wagon...but Americans won't buy wagons and Honda will only make things that it thinks Americans will buy. Even if they are wrong.