"It wasn’t about bad customer service, it was about human decency," Devereaux said.

Newser reports it all started when the flight attendant said the girl, Summers, couldn't use the restroom while the plane sat on a tarmac in New York, CBS Boston reports. Summers started crying, but the attendant still said no. "She snapped at me, 'No sit down,'" said Devereaux.

Devereaux got up to clean the mess and refused to comply with the flight attendant's order to sit down. At that point, the plane started moving toward the gate and the pilot announced that a non-compliant passenger was on board who had to be taken to security. Devereaux said she got scared, but an off-duty pilot sitting nearby persuaded the crew that things were OK.

JetBlue offered Devereaux $50 off a future flight and $5,000 to the charity of her choice. "Happy tears," wrote Devereaux on Twitter, "a really nice lady apologized to me!"

About the Author

Keep Reading

Blue heron are just one of the hundreds of kinds of animals and plants that call the Okefenokee Swamp home. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Featured

The renovation of Jekyll Island's Great Dunes golf course includes nine holes designed by Walter Travis in the 1920s for the members of the Jekyll Island Club. Several holes that were part of the original layout where located along the beach and were bulldozed in the 1950s.(Photo by Austin Kaseman)

Credit: Photo by Austin Kaseman