United Airlines has apologized to a New Jersey mother who said the company 'humiliated' her by not allowing her disabled three-year-old daughter to sit on her lap during a flight -- even though the child is physically unable to sit up on her own. Elit Kirschenbaum said her flight from the Dominican Republic was delayed for nearly an hour in the Dec. 30 incident as a flight attendant insisted her daughter Ivy, a stroke survivor with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, be placed in a seat on her own. The family, aware of federal safety regulations that children over two years old need their own seat, had bought an economy seat for Ivy but kept her with them in business class due to her condition.
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United Airlines apologized to Elit Kirschenbaum and her family for trying to force her to put her disabled daughter Ivy, 3, into her own seat
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Flight attendant said Ivy had to sit in her own seat because she's over 2 years old but the child is physically incapable of sitting up on her own
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Ivy is a stroke survivor now suffering from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy
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The family and other passengers argued with the stubborn flight attendant, delaying the flight for nearly an hour
However, moments before the @placeholder-bound flight took off, a fourth flight attendant confronted Kirschenbaum about the seating arrangement.