Flight attendant takes child from mom after slap

[Tim]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A flight attendant took a child from her mother after that mother slapped the toddler.

At 30,000 feet between Dallas and Albuquerque, when a baby began crying, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant took matters into her own hands.

According to a police report, that flight attendant saw the mom strike the child with an open hand on the face.

Police say the flight attendant then took the child from the mother and walked to the rear of the aircraft.

She said the child had a black eye. Police in Albuquerque were waiting on the ground.

“The local paramedics came out, checked the child out. Extensive interviews were conducted with flight crew, with the parent, with some witnesses from the plane,” said airport spokesman Daniel Jiron.

The mother admitted to police that she did strike her child, but said she didn't do anything wrong.

"I popped her when she kicked me,” she said. “That was it."

She said the black eye was from a dog bite.

No charges were filed and the family boarded the next flight out.

Southwest said in a statement that the flight attendant offered to hold the child to soothe her and that she did nothing wrong.

(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved.

EDIT: New info reveals that the kid was 13 months old.

Do you agree with what the flight attendant did?

I'm torn on this. I really don't think the parent is very mature if her kid kicks her and she responds by "popping" (wtf?) her in the face. She already had a black eye... it's cause for concern. Who the fuck hits a 13 month old child in the face? On the other hand, I don't think that the flight attendant should be playing police on board.

[Roger]

I was going to say I disagreed with the flight attendant until I saw that the child was 13 months old. At that age the kid probably didn't even mean to kick the mother.

[Brad]

I was going to say I disagreed with the flight attendant until I saw that the child was 13 months old. At that age the kid probably didn't even mean to kick the mother.

Basically what he said

[Tim]

Ok, this is more about the flight attendant.

What do think of the flight attendant actually removing the kid?

[Anna]

Bravo for the flight attendant? Who would just sit/stand there and do nothing if someone smacked a one year old (who has a blackeye?!) across the face?

[Bekki]

agreed with roger

[James]

Bravo for the flight attendant? Who would just sit/stand there and do nothing if someone smacked a one year old (who has a blackeye?!) across the face?

Basically this

[Holly]

The flight attendant did the right thing. The 'toddler' is still a baby imo and cannot be responsible for kicking it's mother in an aggressive way (that could cause harm).

[Joelle]

There's no reason for a 13 month toddler to get hit, so I stand by the flight attendant. I would also hope there is more of an investigation to make sure the black eye is in fact caused by a dog bite (wtf?).

[Lisa]

Bravo for the flight attendant? Who would just sit/stand there and do nothing if someone smacked a one year old (who has a blackeye?!) across the face?

I agree with this.

[Theikos]

kidnapping