3-year-old kicked off flight for refusing to wear his seatbelt has caught the attention of folks across the Internet. According to KiroTV, Mark Yanchuck and his son, Daniel, were on a red-eye flight to Miami when the incident occurred. Yanchuck said that his son was sleepy and a little fussy, which prevented him from sitting up straight and using his seatbelt. Despite his best efforts, the father couldn’t calm the child down.

Flight attendants attempted to solve the problem by moving the child’s mother, who was seated near the front of the plane, closer to her child. According to Svetlana Yanchuck, Daniel had his belt fastened when she arrived, and it only took a few minutes to calm the crying child down. By this point, unfortunately, it was too little too late.

After moving about 50 feet, the pilot announced that they had to return to the gate. Once they had arrived, Mark was informed that he and his son would have to leave the plane. After pleading his case to no avail, the entire family disembarked, though they were clearly not happy about the ordeal. The pilot stated the decision to remove the child was a matter of safety.

“I thought we were treated like criminals,” Svetlana remarked.

According to flight attendants, several conversations about the boy’s behavior took place before the decision was made to give them the boot. The Yanchucks, meanwhile, claim that their son had settled down by the time they were asked to leave. The family has refused to have their flight rebooked by the airline.