Narrative:

Due to an overbooked situation, there was some confusion as to who would receive a seat and who would have to wait for the next flight. At this time a gentleman offered to have his young son situation on his lap in order to provide an open seat. This was all unknown to the flight crew (pilots) and handled by ground personnel. The problem was that later on, the flight attendant found out that the child was actually 4 yrs old, rather than the required 2 yrs. When the flight landed was when I became aware of the situation. Obviously, this was too late to do anything about it. In order to prevent this from happening again, a discussion was held on the importance of ascertaining the child's age before allowing them to be considered a lap.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DO328 WAS DISPATCHED WITH A CHILD LAP PAX OVER AGE.

Narrative: DUE TO AN OVERBOOKED SIT, THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION AS TO WHO WOULD RECEIVE A SEAT AND WHO WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT FLT. AT THIS TIME A GENTLEMAN OFFERED TO HAVE HIS YOUNG SON SIT ON HIS LAP IN ORDER TO PROVIDE AN OPEN SEAT. THIS WAS ALL UNKNOWN TO THE FLC (PLTS) AND HANDLED BY GND PERSONNEL. THE PROB WAS THAT LATER ON, THE FLT ATTENDANT FOUND OUT THAT THE CHILD WAS ACTUALLY 4 YRS OLD, RATHER THAN THE REQUIRED 2 YRS. WHEN THE FLT LANDED WAS WHEN I BECAME AWARE OF THE SIT. OBVIOUSLY, THIS WAS TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IN ORDER TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN, A DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ASCERTAINING THE CHILD'S AGE BEFORE ALLOWING THEM TO BE CONSIDERED A LAP.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.