United Airlines has landed in hot water after allegedly removing a 15-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder and her family from a flight to Portland, Ore., this past Tuesday. Donna Beegle says her family’s flight from Houston to their home in Portland was forced to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City, where she, her husband, their son, and their daughter Juliette, who suffers from autism, were asked to exit the plane.

Prior to Tuesday’s incident on United Flight 1535, the Beegle family had been enjoying a relaxing family vacation at Disney World in Orlando. Following a flight from Orlando to Houston, the family decided to eat while they waited for their layover flight. Beegle was worried when Juliette refused to eat because she tends to get excited when her blood sugar gets low.

"Juliette refuses room-temp food," Beegle told ABC News. "I had no real way to bring hot snacks in my bag. I could see [Juliette] getting frustrated. I asked if I can purchase something hot for my daughter and [the first class flight attendant] said no. I called him back over and I said to him, 'Please, help us out here.'"

The flight attendant ended up bringing Juliette a hot meal, which she ate before settling down and watching a movie. Beegle finally thought she would be able to relax as the family made their way back home when she heard an announcement over the loudspeaker explaining the flight would be making an emergency landing due to a passenger’s “behavioral issue.”

Paramedics and police officers who boarded the flight initially passed over Beegle and her family. However, as they were getting ready to exit the plane, the captain came out of the cockpit to have a word with officers. Beegle was told her family would have to exit the plane because the captain was “not comfortable flying on to Portland with [Juliette] on the plane."

In response to its captain being afraid of a 15-year-old girl with autism, United Airlines issued a statement to ABC News:

After working to accommodate Dr. Beegle and her daughter during the flight, the crew made the best decision for the safety and comfort of all of our customers and elected to divert to Salt Lake City after the situation became disruptive. We rebooked the customers on a different carrier and the flight continued to Portland.