Maryland woman charged after police say she hit child on plane who called her “Miss Piggy”

WJZ

By Mike Hellgren

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    Maryland (WJZ) — A woman from Maryland is facing charges after police in Florida said she hit a child who made fun of her weight on a flight from Orlando.

Charging documents WJZ obtained say she slammed the child’s head into the window of the plane.

The Incident

46-year-old Kristy Crampton from Hagerstown appeared in court earlier this week, facing child abuse charges after that disturbing incident on an Allegiant flight from Orlando to Hagerstown on Memorial Day.

Charging documents state she “began hitting the [juvenile] with her fist and then a water bottle…and ‘slammed’ his head into the airplane window.”

Police did not detail Crampton’s relationship to the child.

She told authorities he became disrespectful during their trip to Disney World, and when they got onto the plane, “They got into an argument and [the juvenile] began calling her “fat” and “Miss Piggy.”

Police wrote, “She decided to take the phone away from him, and he got angry. He pushed her arm off of the armrest twice before she responded by smacking him.”

One witness told officers the “woman was not correcting the child, she was abusing him, whipping the [expletive] out of the kid.”

WJZ reached out to Crampton but did not immediately hear back.

FAA tracks unruly passengers

The behavior does not shock many travelers today.

“I feel like we’re living in a time where violence is high, and people are under stress. If I were you, humble yourself before you get on this plane” said Noemi, a passenger flying through BWI Marshall Airport. “I can only imagine what she does behind closed doors because if you’re doing that in public…”

Another passenger, Tony Lawson, told WJZ, “That’s a kid! It’s like if someone put their hands on your kid. It’s not right.”

The FAA has tracked 637 unruly passenger reports so far this year.

They trended downward after hitting a high of 5,973 in 2021. The agency said they saw only 1.6 incidents for every 10,000 flights last week.

Also, during Memorial Day weekend, a man having a mental health crisis tried to open the exit door of a Houston-bound plane that diverted to Seattle.

Past Maryland incident

In 2023, WJZ Investigates covered a man’s meltdown on a Southwest flight from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale over a crying infant.

“Really, out of nowhere, he just kind of blurted out, ‘Shut that [expletive] baby up,’ and everyone was just kind of stunned. Myself and a couple of passengers were kind of stunned and tried to calm him down.”

‘Take a breath. None of us want to be in a situation. Let’s just calm down here.’ And he doubled down,” Mark Grabowski, who captured the video, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren at the time.

The FAA said they have “zero tolerance” for unruly behavior incidents. The agency fined passengers $7.5 million in 2023 alone.

Jacob is taking his first-ever flight from BWI Marshall to Los Angeles on Friday. He hopes the skies are friendlier for him—and has this advice for fellow passengers: “They should keep themselves in check and just be patient.”

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