A Southwest Airlines flight attendant reportedly took away a baby from its parents mid-flight after witnessing the mother slap the crying child.
The plane was enroute to Albuquerque from Dallas on Monday when the incident occurred.
The flight attendant did return the 1-year-old to its parents just before the plane landed. But they were greeted by police when the plane arrived around 4:30 p.m. at the Albuquerque International Sunport.
“I think it was a solid move [on] the part of the flight attendant to take custody of the child,” Albuquerque International Sunport police chief Marshall Katz told KRQE News. “It neutralized the situation. It calmed everybody down.”
Police questioned the couple, the flight attendant and other witnesses, but the parents were not cited for the incident.
“We felt it was an isolated incident,” Katz told the station.
Southwest Airlines did not immediately return a phone call from msnbc.com about the incident.
