Shane Townley had the flight from hell after a 'demonic' youngster screamed for the entirety of his eight hour flight. Photo / Shane Townley
Shane Townley had the flight from hell after a 'demonic' youngster screamed for the entirety of his eight hour flight. Photo / Shane Townley
A passenger filmed a flight from hell after a 'demonic' youngster screamed for the entirety of his eight-hour flight.
New York City artist Shane Townley recorded the unruly toddler as he clambered over the seats and screamed at the top of his voice - before the Lufthansa flight from Germany to New York, on August 26 last year, had even taken off.
The boy's mother, who is not identified but appears to be American, attempted to soothe her son by asking a flight attendant to 'get the WiFi going so we can get the iPad going'.
But if passengers were hoping the three-year-old would run out of energy and calm down, they were sorely disappointed.
Townley's footage shows the 'nightmare' child running around the plane, yelling and making 'demonic screams' as the hours dragged by, the Daily Mail reported.
It is not clear whether the youngster suffers from behavioral issues, and it does not appear his mother informed her fellow passengers, that he was suffering from any condition which could have caused his distress.
Shane Townley had the flight from hell after a 'demonic' youngster screamed for the entirety of his eight hour flight. Photo / Shane Townley
At one point, the kid sat on top of the seats, hitting the ceiling of the plane, as his mother asked him to sit.
Other passengers could be seen covering their ears to try and drown out the rebellious toddler.
When the plane finally arrived in Newark Airport, people looked relieved that the ordeal was over.
"What a nightmare, oh my God - eight hours of screaming" one passenger was heard to comment as she wheeled her suitcase down the ramp.
Townley uploaded the footage on YouTube with the title: "Demonic child screams and runs through an 8 hour flight".
The boy's mother was overheard asking a flight attendant to 'get the WiFi going so we can get the iPad going'. Photo / Shane Townley
He wrote: "Watch as this kid runs and screams throughout the entire flight while the mother does little to nothing to stop him.
"3 years old on a 8 hour flight from Germany to Newark NJ. He never quits!"
He told the DailyMail.com that he had not filed a complaint with the airline 'but I'm certain someone did as the entire plane was affected the whole time.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Lufthansa for comment.
The video has attracted dozens of comments from appalled viewers who suggested that the boy and his parents should have been removed from the flight when they proved unable to control their child.
The video describes the three-year-old as making 'demonic screams' which 'take over the plane'. Photo / Shane Townley
"If this started before the plane took off, the plane should have taxied back to the terminal and kicked the kid and his parents off. This kind of behaviour is just unacceptable," one commenter wrote.
While a third said: "Even noise cancellation headphones would not have drowned out this terror."
Others argued the boy could be autistic or have another mental disability which could cause his distress.
"Whos(sic) to say this child didn't have a hidden disability my son is autistic and couldn't do a long haul flight, 1 you shouldn't be filming a child 2 shouldn't be passing judgement when you haven't a clue what was wrong. Shame on you!!!!" Sarah Jordan tweeted.
Another questioned whether it was a "medical condition or poor upbringing?"
The passenger, seen in the reflection of his seat screen, looked deeply unimpressed by the unruly toddler. Photo / Shane Townley
"Sounds more like a spoilt brat whose parents let him get away with anything," Tommy Gwilym suggested.
Many believed that he needed "some old-fashioned discipline."
"One reason that smacking can be justified. In the case of both the child AND the parents," one Twitter user wrote.
While most sympathised with the poor passengers who were forced to sit through the youngster's eight hour tantrum, some offered their sympathy to their parents.
"The parents were also forced to endure it! People must think parents enjoy listening to their child screaming," Amy Calderbank tweeted.
Hannah Stewart added: "The poor parents, they probably let him do what he wants to stop the screaming and kicking off for five minutes, nothing worse than disappointing stares or tutting, maybe the mother needed a break too."
'What a nightmare, oh my God - eight hours of screaming' one passenger was heard to comment as she wheeled her suitcase down the ramp after the flight finally landed. Photo / Shane Townley
Several commenters suggested the solution to keeping passenegrs happy were kid-free zones, or kid free flights.
"Are there child free flight options? That would be great... all the parents who can't control their spoilt kids can fly together leave the rest of us in peace..." Twitter user Barry White asked.
"They should stick all the family's at the back of the plane," another added.
Travelers have long pushed for airlines to consider child-free flights or 'zones' for a more peaceful journey.
Carriers such as BA, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates have been told to think about 'adult-only' flights after a survey revealed that three quarters of business-class travellers found youngsters on planes irritating.
However, so far no carriers offer such a service and Virgin Atlantic told DailyMail.com previously it had 'no plans' to introduce areas that specifically cater for adults.
Former Virgin Atlantic director Paul Charles said: "It would be a bad decision by an airline to ban children. Once you did, would you start banning other types of traveller? It would be a mistake."
Federal Aviation Administration rules state that they can impose a fine of up to $25,000 for 'unruly passenger' cases. They can also be prosecuted for criminal charges.
Regulations state that "no person may... interfere with a crewmember in the performance of the crewmember's duties aboard an aircraft being operated."
While unlikely, parents of a child whose behaviour is so unruly it is causing difficulties to cabin crew, could potentially face a penalty.
