Mom Slapped Baby on Southwest Flight, Witnesses Say

(Aug. 17) -- Police questioned a couple after witnesses reported the woman slapped her crying baby on a Southwest Airlines flight, but no charges were filed, officials said.

The incident occurred Monday on a flight from Dallas to Albuquerque, N.M., where the couple apparently became frustrated when their 1-year-old child would not stop crying. Witnesses said they saw the mother slap the baby on the face.

"The family visibly was having some heated discussion. That is for certain," Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins told AOL News.

A flight attendant approached the couple and asked if she could help out, Hawkins said. The mother willingly handed over the child, and the flight attendant was able to calm the baby down by rocking it in her arms, he said. The child was returned to its parents before the plane landed at Albuquerque International Sunport.

The family was met by the police at the airport gate, where the child was taken into police custody and taken for a welfare examination, police said. The couple, flight attendant and others were questioned by police. The child was returned to its parents, who were neither cited nor charged, police said.

"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 local station KRQE. "It neutralized the situation. It calmed everybody down."

Hawkins said it's standard procedure to communicate with the proper ground authorities located at the next destination when there is any "escalated tension" mid-flight.

"Anytime there is something less than an obvious -- if there's heightened emotion -- we always want to bring in the people in charge of investigating and let them make the determination if something needs to go further," Hawkins said.

Authorities said that the matter appeared to be a one-time incident and that they did not feel it was necessary to take further action.