A California family kicked off a Delta flight last week claims airline staff threatened they’d be sent to jail and lose their children if they didn’t give up a seat they had purchased for their toddler son.

Brian and Brittany Schear are demanding an apology from the airline after an “overbooking” on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles resulted in a confrontation over the seat occupied by their son, Grayson.

The two said they purchased a seat for their child on the red-eye flight so Grayson could sleep in his car seat, since that’s the only place he’s able to sleep and it’s a safer option than holding a child on a lap.

The family had initially purchased a ticket for their teenage son, but decided to send him home on an earlier flight so their toddler could have the seat.

He said they told the ticket agent about the new arrangement at the gate, and that the agent accommodated the family to sit together.

The family boarded the plane but was then told by Delta agents that the 2-year-old had to give up his seat because there were other passengers on the standby list for the flight.

Brian said an airline staffer told him: “You have to give up the seat or you’re going to jail, your wife is going to jail, and they’ll take your kids from you.”

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In a video of the incident posted to YouTube, Brian can be heard telling officers: “They can remove me off the plane. That’s fine.”

A female voice replies: “Then it can be a federal offense. You and your wife will be in jail, and your kids will be [inaudible].”

Brian responds, “So we’re going to be in jail, and my kids will be what?”

The woman says, “It’s a federal offense if you don’t abide by the rules.”

“I bought that seat,” Brian says. “… You’re saying you’re gonna give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat. That’s not right. You need to do what’s right. I bought the seat, and you need to just leave us alone.”

Later, he says, “I paid for this seat. This is what’s ridiculous.”

The mother, Brittany, told KABC-TV 7 the threat of losing her children scared her.

“As a mother, you have a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old, it doesn’t matter whether that’s true or false. It put fear in me.”

After the initial discussion, a woman named Jenna approaches Brian, apologizes and then claims FAA regulations ban children from sitting in a car seat on a plane.

“With him being 2, he cannot sit in a car seat,” Jenna said. “… He has to sit here, in your arms, the whole time. Technically, he cannot even be on the seat.”

However, the Federal Aviation Administration website encourages the use of restraint systems and car seats rather than flying with a child on a parent’s lap. It explains: “Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device [car seat], not on your lap? Your arms aren’t capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence.”

Brian responds, “He sat in a car seat the whole way out here on a Delta flight.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Jenna said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just trying to do the best I can now.”

Watch the video: