“It was an accident:” Man who owns service dog that bit a child on an airplane speaks out

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Skywest flight 4980 diverted Tuesday afternoon from its final destination in Texas to make an emergency landing in Colorado Springs. Captured Air Traffic Control audio depicts a pilot describing a 10-year-old boy, lying in the back of the plane and bleeding after being bitten in the genitals by a service dog.

Today, KRDO13 spoke to the service dog's owner. He says his dog was self-trained to detect low blood sugar but had never been professionally trained. He says the dog had never acted aggressively or bitten anyone before the flight and had been on five or six flights before this one.

"It was an accident, but he stepped on her paw, and that's why she did what she did," Allen Throndson, the owner of the service dog, explained.

Thronsdon said the family told him everything was "okay" after the flight.

The SkyWest flight was operated by American Airlines. American Airlines' policy, per their website, is that each owner of a service dog must fill out a form for their service dog, attesting that "the animal has been trained to behave in a public setting." That includes the dog not biting anyone.

The ADA does not require specific professional training of any kind for a service dog.

RELATED REPORTING:

Flight diverted to Colorado Springs after service dog bites passenger on board

Service dog bit 10-year-old in the genitals on flight, causing emergency landing at COS

RECORDS: Child bit in genitals by Belgian Malinois had stepped on its paw, owner said