Autumn 2012
By David E. Rapoport, Jan Brown and Lindsey A. Epstein
Most parents do not know that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of Flight Attendants and the National Transportation Safety Board all believe babies, like everyone else, should be required to have their own seats with proper restraints when flying. Needless infant deaths and injuries have occurred because parents have chosen to hold their babies on their laps when flying. Most parents do not realize this is a dangerous choice or that the Federal Aviation Administration recommends babies should have their own seats with proper restraints when flying. The National Transportation Safety Board even prepared a 3-minute aviation video explaining the danger.
In an effort to further increase awareness about the dangers of allowing children to fly on parents’ laps, David Rapoport, Jan Brown and Lindsey Epstein recently published an aviation article on the issue. The article describes real life stories of harm to babies that could have been prevented, and what can be done to increase knowledge about the risks to babies so they are better protected in the future in the event of an airplane accident. To read the entire article, Babies Have a Right to a Safe Seat With Proper Restraints: The Infant Seat Exception Should Be Abandoned, in Issues in Aviation Law and Policy, click here.