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‘Unruly’ travelers cause airport delay
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| The Lihue Airport has been the scene of two incidents in the past week where passenegers have become unruly on arriving flights. Adam Harju/The Garden Island |
Parents receive counseling after kids disrupt flight
By Michael Levine - The Garden Island
A single Kaua‘i Police officer was dispatched to Lihu‘e Airport Tuesday evening after an American Airlines captain requested assistance in dealing with a disturbance on flight No. 285 from Los Angeles.
Officer Chris Calio counseled a party of approximately 10 adults at the airport gate on how to better manage their group of eight to 10 juveniles, ranging in age from 1 to 12 years old, according to Lt. Kaleo Perez.
The “unruly” children had been throwing items around the plane and otherwise disturbing passengers despite repeated attempts by the flight crew to settle them down, Perez said. Nobody was injured.
The incident was confirmed yesterday by a Securitas Security Services night manager, who said the children “weren’t on their best behavior.”
Flight attendants told police the children had been using the same cups that parents had previously been using to drink alcoholic beverages, and one member of the flight crew described the incident as “the worst behavior that they’ve experienced in their days working as flight attendants,” Perez said.
The attendants also told the officer they planned to send a request to the American Airlines corporate office to make a recommendation that the group not be allowed to fly back to Los Angeles on the airline.
An e-mail sent to American Airlines corporate communications staff was not returned as of press time.
According to Perez, the families were polite, cordial and receptive to what officer Calio had to say, and explained that their children had grown “restless” during the six-hour flight.
The Garden Island has learned passengers arriving at Lihu‘e at roughly 8:30 p.m. were briefly delayed in exiting their aircraft.
No arrests were made and no citations were issued, Perez said. The incident, which was considered a call for assistance and not a criminal complaint, comes just days after a more serious police response at Lihu‘e Airport.
On Saturday, 55-year-old Raymond Fessler, of Idaho, was arrested upon arrival at Lihu‘e Airport after he approached the cockpit and struck a pair of female flight attendants in the face and head during a U.S. Airways flight from Phoenix, according to KPD officials.
Fessler was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and held for nearly 24 hours, then transferred to Federal Bureau of Investigation custody and charged with interference with flight crew members or flight attendants, a felony.
On Monday, Fessler was arraigned in federal court on O‘ahu and released from custody after posting bond, according to the FBI.
Officer Chris Calio counseled a party of approximately 10 adults at the airport gate on how to better manage their group of eight to 10 juveniles, ranging in age from 1 to 12 years old, according to Lt. Kaleo Perez.
The “unruly” children had been throwing items around the plane and otherwise disturbing passengers despite repeated attempts by the flight crew to settle them down, Perez said. Nobody was injured.
The incident was confirmed yesterday by a Securitas Security Services night manager, who said the children “weren’t on their best behavior.”
Flight attendants told police the children had been using the same cups that parents had previously been using to drink alcoholic beverages, and one member of the flight crew described the incident as “the worst behavior that they’ve experienced in their days working as flight attendants,” Perez said.
The attendants also told the officer they planned to send a request to the American Airlines corporate office to make a recommendation that the group not be allowed to fly back to Los Angeles on the airline.
An e-mail sent to American Airlines corporate communications staff was not returned as of press time.
According to Perez, the families were polite, cordial and receptive to what officer Calio had to say, and explained that their children had grown “restless” during the six-hour flight.
The Garden Island has learned passengers arriving at Lihu‘e at roughly 8:30 p.m. were briefly delayed in exiting their aircraft.
No arrests were made and no citations were issued, Perez said. The incident, which was considered a call for assistance and not a criminal complaint, comes just days after a more serious police response at Lihu‘e Airport.
On Saturday, 55-year-old Raymond Fessler, of Idaho, was arrested upon arrival at Lihu‘e Airport after he approached the cockpit and struck a pair of female flight attendants in the face and head during a U.S. Airways flight from Phoenix, according to KPD officials.
Fessler was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and held for nearly 24 hours, then transferred to Federal Bureau of Investigation custody and charged with interference with flight crew members or flight attendants, a felony.
On Monday, Fessler was arraigned in federal court on O‘ahu and released from custody after posting bond, according to the FBI.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of kauaiworld.com.
Kimokat wrote on Dec 18, 2008 7:57 AM:
" Hope some of the other passengers will file complaints and even sue both the parents and airlines for not dealing with it. What is the difference between the two different flights? Hope none of the other airlines will allow that group to fly back to the mainland. About time society puts it foot down on gross misbehaviour. "
jr1956 wrote on Dec 18, 2008 8:24 AM:
" kids are out of control, I have expoerience many incidences like the one on American airlines. I experience in local restaurants with kids running around screamibng and acting idiotic while their parents sit and eat theior meal and relax at everyone elses expense. "
shanahan wrote on Dec 18, 2008 9:44 AM:
" So the parents (drinking alcohol) are blaming the kids! These parents should be strapped into a chair in the upright position and forced to watch nanny 911 until they sober up. "
alohamom wrote on Dec 19, 2008 8:17 PM:
" These people are unbelievable! They are staying at our resort and have spent the last 48 hrs terrorizing employees and guests. Kids running the hallways and pulling fire alarms at 5am, damaging things in the restaurant, threatening employees that they will burn the place down, coming into private offices and trying to take juices/waters/cookies from the fridge because they're too cheap to pay for them. Parents laying by the pool ignoring the kids who are breaking all the pool safety rules and when asked to watch them they stated that "we're on vacation and we shouldn't HAVE to watch them", when security admonished them he was splashed in the face with water. Today was the highlight when one of the kids pooped in the pool and we had to close it to clean it. Oh, and one of them held another guests child UNDER WATER. I've never in my life seen such disrespect and bad behavior and it's obvious the kids are learning it all from the RUDE parents. It's seriously like what you'd see in a movie. God help us survive unitl they check out and fly back home. "
kunstsurfer wrote on Dec 19, 2008 9:49 PM:
" I think we have the "pleasure" to experience those kids at the Westin Princeville. They chase each other around the pool screaming at 1:00 am at night. The management is aware of the situation, next time I should call security (and yes, I will do that)... Today we saw them at the restaurant bar in wet shorts jumping up and down on high bar stoles. The waitress told them at least 3 times (very polite but certain) not do that – Mr. Dad was sitting next to it getting his drink but saying absolutely nothing. Tonight this "dad" was "entertaining" his kids by screaming with them for about an hour in the pool. I haven't really figured out their native language, but it is not English. Anyway, just thought I mention that folks like this do not only disturb air travel. "
martik wrote on Dec 24, 2008 7:25 AM:
" I would HIGHLY suggest that if these folks continue to disurb the peace and the employees at Westin cannot get them to be quiet during the middle of the night, call the non-emergency number for the local police. We had a similar situation at Lake Havasu and the police were very happy to take care of the situation for the rest of the hotel guests. Maybe a night in jail will teach this "dad" about disturbing folks at 1:00 in the morning. I think everyone would be curious too as to their nationality. We ran into some extremely rude skiiers in Lake Tahoe who were from a non-English speaking European country. Good luck to the Westin employees! I have two children whom travel to Kauai all of the time and I cannot imagine letting them run wild like these folks have. "
pzp wrote on Dec 24, 2008 4:48 PM:
" Those of you at the Westin --- If the staff won't take firm measures CALL THE POLICE! The kid who held the other child under water should be cited. I believe pulling fire alarms without good reason is a punishable offense.
Complain to the Westin GM. Make it clear you want some form of compensation. Something more than a free drink, fruit basket or the like. Comped rooms, maybe. "
Complain to the Westin GM. Make it clear you want some form of compensation. Something more than a free drink, fruit basket or the like. Comped rooms, maybe. "
airUtated wrote on Dec 26, 2008 2:13 PM:
" This story is so unbelievable. I was on the American Airlines flight that they were on and can tell you that the problems were so bad the captain pulled the plane over while we were moving on the runway in Los Angeles! The flight attendants tried to get these kids to sit down and stay in their seats, stop ringing the call lights, stop running down the aisles but to no avail. The parents just ignored the situation and ordered their cocktails. Then, they handed the kids their drinks!!!! The kids were running all over the plane holding the wine bottles and the little liquor bottles. They started throwing them at passengers, throwing magazines at passengers, kicking the seats of the passengers. Some of the passengers next to me started yelling at the parents and all the parents could say is "they're only kids". One of the flight attendants conferenced one of the mothers and gave her a paper. The mother yelled something at her and then threw the paper at her! After 5 hours of the most horrible flight I have ever been on, they had the flight met by the police. I was hoping something bad would happen but whatever it was, I'll never know but obviously if they continued this behavior at the hotel, they were not fazed at all by this. I hope the airline denied them passage, at least they would have a financial consequence to their awful behavior. "
SteinYota wrote on Dec 26, 2008 6:04 PM:
" You know, stories like these are really unfortunate. These "visitors" have to remember that they are exactly that. Visitors to an island, a state, a country. Kids are a direct reflection of their parents and how they teach their children. Blame should never be placed on kids. So sad. "
mattanderson wrote on Dec 30, 2008 5:10 PM:
" As a mainlander and a frequent visitor to Kauai I am appalled at this situation. It's situations like this where the term "Howlie" stems from. Kauai, to me is an island of hospitality, friendship, love, beauty, and respect. It's unfortunate these people chose to have kids with their poor parenting skills and lax direction. My apologies from the mainlanders, or should I say, "continenters across the sea". Mahal. "
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terry wrote on Dec 18, 2008 4:06 AM: