Travel

Birthday cake gets family ‘kicked off’ flight

Jun 05, 2017

It was supposed to be a memorable family trip to Las Vegas, but for Cameron and Minta Burke and their two children, it ended up being a holiday they’d rather forget.

Visiting Las Vegas to celebrate Minta’s 40th birthday, the family of four was carrying a buttercream cake with them, which was put into the overhead compartment.

“We were just so happy. Couldn’t wait to get to Las Vegas, and all of a sudden this occurred, and my two children are screaming, crying. They’re confused not knowing what’s going on — they were traumatised,” Minta told ABC7.

The family reports that they were told by a flight attendant that the cake posed a security risk and were ask to move it under a seat, which they did. Cameron then attempted to intervene.

“I had approached them, and I said everything was fine, and she said, ‘Sir, this does not involve you.’ When she told me I had been non-compliant, then I said ‘Ma’am, had you been drinking?’ because her behaviour was not normal,” Cameron said.

Mobile footage shows what followed the incident, when police were called to the plane, but the airline, JetBlue, had a different understanding of the situation in a statement released afterwards.

Jersey City family kicked off flight over a cake. @JetBlue says passenger was agitated/security risk. Video appears to tell different story. pic.twitter.com/q0zQzNbHoa

— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) May 14, 2017

“[The customer] refused multiple requests from the crew to remove the items … became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crewmember’s fitness to fly,” JetBlue said in a statement.

Unfortunately, there have been a series of in-flight situations that have caused controversy recently, beginning, most notably, when a man was violently dragged off a United Airlines flight.

The CEO of United Airlines’ parent company responded to the video, with the airline posting a statement from him on social media.

“This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United,” Oscar Munoz wrote.

“I apologise for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened.”