A PASSENGER who slapped a crying child during a flight has been charged with assault.

Joe Rickey Hundley, from Idaho, US, allegedly uttered a racial slur and slapped the 19-month-old boy as the Delta flight made its descent into Atlanta.

The mother of the child, Jessica Bennett, told how she was "scared to death" during the February 8 incident.

She said her adopted son Jonah was crying because he was "feeling the pressure in his ears" but Mr Hundley, who was seated next to her in row 28, demanded she "shut that n****r baby up" and said he was too big to be a "lap baby".

What happened next truly shocked her.

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"I said, 'What did you just say?'" Mrs Bennett said. "And he was so drunk that he fell onto my face, and his mouth moved over to my ear and he said it, just directly into my ear."

She claims he then reached over and slapped her child.

"When I looked at Jonah's face, his eye was swollen... and it was bleeding. I was just scared to death," Mrs Bennett said.

She says Jonah has been traumatised by the incident and is now "apprehensive to strangers".

Mr Hundley's lawyer told ABC News he will be pleading not guilty but said he did ask the mother to quiet the child.

He admits to being "distraught" during the flight as he was on the way to visit a relative in hospital.

However the Bennett family's attorney John Thompson claims there were numerous witnesses that saw Mr Hundley hit Jonah.

That includes Todd Wooten. Seated 12 rows ahead, Mr Wooten said he went to see what was going on after hearing "derogatory language" coming from the back of the plane only to see Mr Hundley strike the child.

Mr Hundley has been charged with assault and is facing a maximum of one year in prison if convicted.

He has also been suspended from his job at AGC Aerospace & Defense.

The company has released this statement: "Reports of the recent behavior of one of our business unit executives while on personal travel are offensive and disturbing. We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon. As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company."

"We wish to emphasise that the behaviour that has been described is contradictory to our values, embarrassing and does not in any way reflect the patriotic character of the men and women of diverse backgrounds who work tirelessly in our business."

Originally published as Passenger slaps crying child on flight