It’s every parents’ nightmare, having a child who throws a wobbly in a public place. But when the tantrum is on an plane and delays the flight, how do you cope, what can you do to placate an hysterical child, knowing everyone’s eyes are fixed on you?

This is what happened to Julie and Gerry Kulesza who could not restrain daughter Elly, 3, with her seat belt strapped securely, so they were removed by the airline AirTran.

Curmudgeon has highlighted this interesting incident and says the story made headlines because of the parent’s anger with the airline, even though AirTran flew the family home the next day, as well as reimbursing them for the cost of the tickets they bought on the flight they didn’t take because of Elly’s behavior. They were even offered free round trip tickets to anywhere AirTran flies.

Curmudgeon, having a legal background, wonders if the family had been aware of the proposed smacking ban in that state on children three years and younger. But who would have wanted, or could have considered  smacking a young child in those circumstances, it would have been  outrageous to do so and tantamount to assault.

So was the airline right in ejecting the family? They obviously have to pay hefty fees for the time they are grounded and their delay would have held up other flights too.

Do you have any special techniques for dealing with tantrums? You could hardly ignore the child and make pretend it was not yours in this confined space. It is so humiliating knowing that all those eyes are firmly fixed on you and your parenting skills. What I do remember is that you cannot reason with a child in this state, you have to wait for the tantrum to cool off, but time was against this family.