TSA toddler patdown, wheelchair scan raises questions at St. Louis airport

  

February 21, 2013 (ST. LOUIS) (WLS) -- A homemade video is raising questions about airport security rules and common sense.

It happened in St. Louis with a family heading to Disney World. Their 3-year-old is confined to a wheelchair.

On the video, little Lucy can be heard saying something it's hard to imagine any 3-year-old saying: "I don't want to go to Disney World."

What made the toddler so distraught, her parents say, was a run-in with TSA screeners at Missouri's Lambert-St. Louis International Airport as the family was heading to Orlando on vacation February 8.

Mother Annie Schulte says it all started when TSA agents asked to pat down Lucy, who is disabled, and to screen her wheelchair. Schulte asked to tape it. But an agent didn't like that.

"The problem is I don't allow anyone to touch my little daughter without being able to record it," said Schulte.

The family says the final straw was this moment when agents refused to return Lucy's stuffed animal, "Lamby," even though it had already been scanned.

The TSA has apologized, telling ABC News it "regrets inaccurate guidance was provided to this family during screening."

The family says it accepts the apology but wants screeners to receive more training.

Get more National/World »

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•