Your instincts are correct, or at least the NTSB agrees with you - they don't like the idea of "Lap Children" on aircraft, and they've come out and said as much in this Safety Alert.
While not common, adults are occasionally severely injured in these events but I've never noted a lap child being hurt.ĭoes anyone know of instances where a lap child was injured during a flight? I'm not interested in instances where everyone is hurt but rather instances that having been secured in a car seat would reasonably have prevented the injury. It seems to me that holding on to a 20 lbs child when subject to strong turbulence or unexpected maneuvering would be difficult. I have always considered this to be an unsafe practice, but have never had data to back that up. The only safety consideration is that the lap child must be seated in a row with adequate O 2 masks in case of depressurization (some rows have more masks than seats).
If you aren't aware of the concept of a lap child, this is a child, typically under 2 years of age, who can board an airplane without an assigned seat and must be held by a parent/guardian for the duration of the flight (including the takeoff and landing). We would never consider putting an infant or toddler into a car without a carseat, but we don't hesitate to do exactly this when getting onto a large airplane.
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