“He kept lying down in his seat, his legs were dangling over the arm rest. At one point, we did have

The incident happened Saturday night on a flight from Seattle to Miami -- the first leg of a long journey to the Virgin Islands for Mark Yanchuk, a computer salesman from Everett, Wash., his wife, mother-in-law and two small children.
The family was allowed to board early and they split up once on the plane. Yanchuk and his 3-year-old son, Daniel, sat in the main cabin, while his wife, mother-in-law and one-year-old child took their seats in first class.
Alaska Airlines spokesman Paul McElroy said flight attendants came to check on the father and the boy several times before departure to try to help calm the child down, but Daniel was restless and wouldn't get buckled in.
"He kept lying down in his seat, his legs were dangling over the arm rest. At one point, we did have the seat belt fastened but because the child was lying down, now the belt was across his neck and the flight attendants were worried that he would begin to choke himself."
Yanchuk disputes that account, saying he would never allow his son to get into such a precarious position. He said he tried to calm Daniel down, but couldn't do it as well as his wife, who was far away.
When the boy finally sat up, the plane pushed back from the gate. But then a flight attendant noticed that the child was lying down in his seat again, so the captain was notified and decided to return to the gate, McElroy said.
"We certainly regret the inconvenience to this family, but the flight crew in their best judgment did make the necessary decision to direct the family to take another flight," McElroy said, adding it was a safety issue.
Alaska Airlines offered to rebook them on the same flight the next day, but Yanchuk declined, saying he would be uncomfortable flying the airline again. The family will receive a refund for the flight, McElroy said. Their baggage, which continued on to the Virgin Islands, will be returned soon. The vacation is canceled for now and Yanchuk is still trying to figure out what went wrong.
"I think they overreacted. I know you get kicked vacation rentals in florence oregon off planes for dangerous vacation rentals in florence oregon situations like not wearing a seat belt or running around or something dangerous. But I didn't see the situation as being dangerous at all," Yanchuk said.