Young boy kicked off Colombia flight for failing to follow safety instructions

A boy and his father were removed from a Latam Airlines flight after the boy refused to follow safety instructions before takeoff and kept the plane from departing. Photos / Brett Phibbs, X @ElInformador_SM

A child refused to comply with safety instructions on a plane before takeoff, creating a headache for passengers, cabin crew and even his father.

The young boy delayed a flight by an hour and was removed from a plane with his father after he refused to buckle his seatbelt before takeoff, despite pleas from crew members and his dad.

The incident occurred on a Latam Airlines flight on the Santa Marta-Bogota route in Colombia, which typically takes one hour and 25 minutes to complete.

In a video of the incident posted to social media, passengers are seen getting visibly frustrated at the boy for refusing to listen to instructions and demanding his father take action.

The incident occurred on a Latam Airlines flight between Santa Marta and Bogota. Photo / 123RF

The boy wouldn’t budge, yet the plane couldn’t take off without all passengers having their seatbelts buckled. The captain ultimately had to move off the runway and return to the gate to resolve the issue, reported local newspaper El Colombiano.

“Dear passengers, we previously informed you that, if the regulations were not complied with, we could not start the flight,” a flight attendant told passengers as they explained the reason for the delay.

“They were not complied with and we had to return, and now we are waiting for the passengers who do not comply with the regulation to ... disembark.”

Passengers grew increasingly discontent with the two passengers in question and blasted the father for not getting his son in line.

As the plane returned to the gate, fellow travellers could be heard shouting “get off” to the boy and his father, while others in the background yelled “remove him” and “do something” to the cabin crew.

Berrinche de un niño retrasó vuelo Santa Marta-Bogotá ⤵️https://t.co/Ba0VZEtXji pic.twitter.com/dLU8rzEMxW

— El Informador Santa Marta (@ElInformador_SM) June 13, 2024

Most people appeared to be happy with the decision to remove them, although one woman could be heard saying: “He has rights, it’s a child.”

Airport security eventually boarded the plane and went up to the pair, removing them both from the plane.

The incident delayed the flight by about one hour from its original scheduled departure time of 8.20am.