An 18-month-old girl and her parents were pulled off a JetBlue flight Tuesday because the child was on the no-fly list, reports WPBF 25 West Palm Beach.
Riyanna and her parents had just boarded the flight at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, when they were approached by an airline employee telling them the TSA wanted to speak with them.
Her parents, who asked to remain anonymous, think their little girl was singled out because the family is of Middle Eastern descent. Both parents were born and raised in New Jersey.
After 30 minutes of waiting in the terminal, the family was told they could re-board, but refused to do so out of embarrassment. "We were put on display like a circus act because my wife wears a hijab [head scarf]," Riyanna's father told Bay News 9.
According to Bay News 9, JetBlue issued a statement that both the airline and the TSA would investigate the incident. But, in a follow-up, WPBF reports that the TSA said it would not investigate.
HuffPost Travel received this statement from the TSA via e-mail: "TSA did not flag this child as being on the No Fly list. TSA was called to the gate by the airline and after talking to the parents and confirming through our vetting system, TSA determined the airline had mistakenly indicated the child was on a government watch list."
Back in March, another toddler was kicked off a JetBlue plane, though in that instance it was for throwing a tantrum. In December of last year, another family was kicked off a U.S. Airways flight for having too many children.