LOS ANGELES, May 4, (Xinhua) -- Delta Airlines released a statement on Thursday apologizing for forcing a family of four, including two children, off a plane while they refused to give up their 2-year-old son's seat.

Brian Schear of Huntington Beach, California, posted an eight-minute video online on Youtube Wednesday, saying his family was forced to leave the plane when they turned down a Delta staff's request to offer their son's seat to another passenger.

In the video, the staff also threatened to pause the flight and to send the parents to jail if they did not cooperate.

"We're sorry for what this family experienced. Our team has reached out and will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution." said Betsy Talton, the Delta spokeswoman in the statement.

Talton also denied that the plane was "overbooked", as reported in earlier reports.

The video has sparked outrage on social media and has received over 890,000 views by Thursday afternoon.

The incident added Delta to the list of recent encounters on airlines that has gone viral, including the forceful removal of a 69-year-old passenger from a United Airlines flight plane to make room for crew members last month.

Congress held two hearings this week on airline customer service, with executives from United Airlines, American Airlines, Southeast Airlines and Alaska Airlines present. Delta was notably absent.