A young child reportedly stabbed another passenger with a fork on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to New York JFK, while her mother slept. The girl roamed the aisle. Already disruptive during the flight, her behavior escalated when she approached a passenger holding a metal fork and jabbed her without warning.
The woman quickly alerts a flight attendant,
She just randomly stabbed me with a fork! I almost slapped her. I’m gonna f* her up. She ran and hit me, stabbed me with the fork. I don’t know whose kid that is. You gotta get her. I’m gonna smack the s** out of her.
@donnitta_renee Replying to @D WHEN WE FINALLY GOT ATTENTION, They took the fork! My sister has no chill lmao #qatarairways #donnittarenee #flightkids ♬ original sound – Donnitta_Renee
@donnitta_renee Replying to @LoyalToya YES, she was tired!! #donnittarenee #flight #flightattendant #kidsbelike ♬ original sound – Donnitta_Renee
The victim became aggressive, brandishing a sandal, ready to strike the child if another attack occurred. The flight attendant removed the fork from the child’s hands while another crewmember approached the sleeping mother. Other passengers report that the mother seemed unconcerned, and did not discipline or control her daughter during the rest of the flight.
Her other child caused a disturbance later in the flight. Flight attendants tried to keep them occupied and engaged with snacks and entertainment until arrival in New York.
No doubt the mother was exhausted flying long haul coach, but that’s something she chose to do and retains responsibility for the child. The victim’s response was inappropriate, but ultimately it’s up to a parent to keep their child engaged so that situations like this don’t happen.
Ban them from flying… ?
The passenger had every right to smack the child, does not matter how old they are. The fork could have caused lifelong injuries.
People, use condoms.
I can relate to the little girl and the mom.
Totally fine to hit these little shits if they don’t learn from their parents. When I was growing up not only was it perfectly acceptable for your teacher to hit you. It was encouraged. It’ll be fine.
She doesn’t stand a chance. She’ll be stripping in 15 years. Like Chris Rock says, your only job in life as a father is to keep her off the pole.
The victim was stabbed, what exactly is an appropriate response to that?
The real question: Did the child ask ‘who’s Akbar?!’ before stabbing?
Obviously, a terrorist… /s
@lavanderialarry is right, please use (multiple forms of) protection! Like, we may need a body shield on flights now.
@Matt — For a less-stabby premium experience, please consider Delta?
A few whacks with a sandal may have been the best thing to ever happen to that child. Maybe she will begin to realize that there are consequences to actions.
No miles? No snacks? No medical attention? Where is the blood?
SMH….I am sure it is the usual Becky or Jill!
Ban that mother and her offspring from the airline! You choose to bring your kids on a plane, you choose to be responsible for them.
She’s very lucky that woman didn’t smack her with the sandal. I would have SCREAMED at that kid. No physical hits but scream enough to scare the sh*t out of her. And her sibling!
The guy should have pressed charges against the girl.
Deal with some NYC police fun when arriving!
Behavior of child, mother, and sibling are all unacceptable. Ban them, fine them, shame them. They deserve nothing but scorn.
Absolutely press charges. That fork had become a weapon. I’m sure the little girl wouldn’t be charged, but make it enough of a hassle for the mother to sit up and take notice.
If people can be charged for their animals running loose and creating havoc, why not their children, also?
“The victim’s response was inappropriate”
You can’t be serious.
I’m with @Ron. This isn’t just a case of “Awww look dear, junior is being destructive. Isn’t that cute?”, the kid is assaulting people for no reason. Arrest of the mother may be a little much though.
If your brat runs down the aisle and accidentally trips on my foot, that’s just bad luck 😉
“The victim’s response was inappropriate” You have got to be joking Gary. What would have been an appropriate response? Just a finger wag saying no ala Delta FA style? Clearly the parents do not discipline their child so the child thinks this is appropriate behavior on a plane.
@michael — same joke is now modernized to be “keep them off of Only Fans”
When you see an aggressive bear cub or adult bear, it’s suggested to make yourself look bigger than you are but not to run away as if you are terrified prey. Putting up a sandal could he just that and the passenger who did that didn’t seem to want to be aggressive at all, just defensively intimidating.
Yeah the victim’s response was absolutely appropriate. So what she had her sandal off brandishing it, she’d just been stabbed by a fork by a bad parent’s* ill-mannered child. She was calm and calmly told the flight attendant that the kid stabbed her with a fork.
*I mean, sometimes kids get out of hand… but the parent seeming unconcerned, not reprimanding or punishing the kid, and having a SECOND kid that also was disruptive later on the flight. They’re not doing a good job there.
File charges and have ICE waiting at the jet bridge for an interview! Crazy lady could’ve lost her eye if she would’ve stabbed her in the face!
Again, the AI thumbnails leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Maybe it’s just me.
@Jane Jacobs – How often are you asked about this famous name from the field of urban planning/design?
🙂
This is what happens when you make travel too affordable.
Longhaul flights should just be all J/F. Cargo ships exist.
There is a lot happening in this article, including what sounds like hyperbole.
Did the child stab her, or poke her? There is an actual difference between the two.
Next your comment about the response being inappropriate could be appropriate, or could be inappropriate itself.
I could be very wrong here, but it sounds like you know just as much as I do…
I get the impression that this whole story is an exaggerated description of events. That being the case, I find it difficult to gauge how I should feel about the encounter.
@WhereTo2Next — What?! Hyperbole… and manufactured outrage… on VFTW?! No… Never… ‘not possible.’ /s
That kid needs a good ass-whooping!!
I love how these comments are basically “It is completely wrong for that child to physically assault someone else…anyway, I think adults should be physically assaulting children all the time.” All without a hint of irony.
Put on a Do Not Fly list. Problem solved.
@Anonymous Traveler — How exciting! Calling out hypocrisy is quite the sport, isn’t it? While we’re at it, let’s needlessly make this political! …it’s kinda easy to spot the right-wingers, isn’t it? (Are they in-favor of ‘whoopin’ and ‘bannin’?)
Hyperbole and manufactured outrage is what puts the spring into VFTW being to the miles & points/travel blogosphere being The Jerry Springer Show of the space at times.
craig6Z/Moderator2 would says it’s like TMZ.
Was there a flesh wound, like blood? If so I can imagine the surprised victim lawyering up against the airline and the kid’s mother.
Where did the kid get a metal knife from? (Don’t know what is on the Economy tray).
@ 1990
For an apparent liberal you consistently make fun of my religion. Do you do this for all religions. No tolerance? What is the matter with you.
There was no report of blood coming up from the pre-school “stabber” poking passengers with the fork.
Qatar Airways in economy class uses metal utensils on the routes where I fly them in economy class. That includes a dull metal fork.
Hi 1990. Speaking of those Americans or any others in favor of giving kids a “whoopin”, pre-Covid there was an American family flying via Scandinavia on Qatar where a parent whacked their child’s hand for misbehaving at the airport and caused the child to cry in pain. The QR flight attendants didn’t know it was a crime, but it is a crime and they almost got hauled in by the police for the prosecutors to pursue charges of child abuse for the smack. Slapping/smacking a kid for so-called “discipline”/“punishment” is a crime in various parts.
Small children who get hit by their parents are more likely to have learning problems and be more favorable toward physical violence toward others.
There were ways to control this misbehaving girl with negligent parent(s) that don’t involve hitting the girl. For example, take the fork away, wake up the parent and put the girl in the window seat and have the negligent parent move to the aisle seat to block the child’s escape into the aisle.
@GUWonder — 100%. I, too, am opposed to corporal punishment–it’s ineffective and more harmful than helpful. It saddens me that it’s still ‘legal’ in many states (you guessed it, mostly the ‘red’ ones.) Public schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming, still allow school personnel to practice this. Personally, I believe that Ingraham v. Wright (1977), the US Supreme Court decision that enabled this, was wrongly decided–it should NOT be ‘left up to the states.’ It’s just wrong. Clearly, some of our commenters just love violence (unless it is against them, personally, of course, bless their hearts.)
@Jack the Ladd — Oh no, pardon me. Respectfully, who is Mr. Akbar?
Having a child cry out after having their hand slapped is not always about pain. Such a child can feel more pain while playing and doesn’t cry. The crying is sometimes a reaction to being rebuked or stopped from doing something. Sometimes crying is purely manipulative. Anyone who has taken a two year old to a store and told them to behave which was followed by a temper tantrum knows this. In fact it is a situation called the terrible twos. Unless this airplane child has seen a lot of violence at home, the stabbing with the fork may be more related to trying to get attention from a mother who was not giving it.
best way to smack some sense into the child, is to smack it. and the mom to for sleeping on the job. hopefully the victim will take the mom to court and give HER a wake up call too.
Where was the father of the “fork-stabber” child on the plane? Children are still made with sperm from males.
I’m disappointed that @Jack the Ladd never returned to educate me/us further. How sad. A real missed opportunity for all of us. Anyway, mocking jihadis (that was my original ‘joke’) is not the same as mocking a religion (and, mocking religion is totally fine, too, if you wish.) Actually, feel free to mock anything and everything, myself included, within reason (like don’t threaten others with actual violence, hate speech, or dox them…that’d be uncool)–I’d call it ‘free expression’ (a so-called ‘liberal’ value… *vomit*). Remember, in the USA (where the website is based), we don’t live in a theocratic dictatorship, yet (and if we did, it doesn’t appear to be favor to the one you’re referring to… see Executive Order 13769, circa 2017). Speaking of, ironically, jihadis are a ‘mockery’ of that religion to begin with, aren’t they? I sure hope we could agree on that at least. After all, that particular religion refers to itself as ‘religion of peace,’ doesn’t it? Then again, I thought I heard that merely drawing certain people *you know who* or women not wearing head-coverings is worthy of death (yikes!), so perhaps that ‘claim’ isn’t too accurate to begin with. Oh well. I guess we’ll never hear ‘your side’ of this story. What a shame. ‘Peace be with you!’ *wink*
If anyone else could help me out, was @Jack the Ladd referring to the one that doesn’t eat cow, or beef, or pork? Or no meat on Fridays in Spring? Or during daytime for a month? None of that really matters. Like, seriously, those foods are all delicious–enjoy them all, whenever you want (like no one is watching!). Actually, come to think of it, why would any ‘religion’ prohibit certain food? Except that one ‘religion,’ sorry, ‘cult,’ you know, the one where the forced you to consume… Flavor Aid. *Note to self, don’t take the one-way trip to Guyana. I mean, I hear it’s ‘lovely,’ but like, do the round-trip. In fact, AA operates nonstop MIA and JFK to GEO these days. Probably less ‘stabby,’ too. A win-win!