WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday urged federal airline regulators to act on its longstanding recommendation to require that children younger than 2 be strapped into restraint seats on planes.
Such a rule would end the airlines' practice of allowing infants and toddlers to sit on their parents' laps. The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates aviation safety, questions whether the change will protect children.
Peggy Gilligan, the FAA's deputy assistant administrator for regulation and certification, said only three unrestrained children died in airline crashes in the past 20 years.