Jennifer Zanone had just arrived in Dallas, Texas on a flight from Hong Kong on Saturday when a ceiling panel, with an oxygen tank attached, dislodged and fell from above her, landing on the head of her one-year-old son who was sitting on her lap.

That was horrifying enough. But, as the mother claimed in a furious Facebook post, there appeared to be little concern from American Airlines staff for what could have easily been an even more disastrous incident.

“We were directed to wait for a gate agent to document the incident but no one met us at the gate,” Ms Zanone said.

“We stood there waiting for an agent and our stroller until the captain himself walked off the flight and apologised to us.

“After leaving the gate area, we went to the next customer service area to try to report the incident and were given the run around for 1.5 hours and have made no progress.”

Ms Zanone said the incident didn’t cause her child to bleed but she wanted what had happened to be officially noted should anything come of it.

“I just want documentation of the incident in case something shows itself later since it was a heavy item that fell directly on his head!!” she said.

Ms Zanone said she was “extremely disappointed” with the airline’s response.

“While the apologies were appreciated, documentation of the incident would have been preferred as a piece of the plane fell directly on my child’s head and that is not OK,” she said.

“Fly American Airlines with extreme caution.”

In an attempt to discuss the incident with American Airlines, Ms Zanone also reached out to them on Facebook, reiterating how she had been made to wait for more than 90 minutes at the airport with no customer service.

“A gate agent didn’t meet us at the gate to file a report, and we waited for over 1.5 hours at customer service and supervisors were too busy to come help us,” she said.

“Your planes are falling apart and hurting people ... at least have the decency to make sure to follow incident reporting procedures. Why do customers have to turn to social media to get anything done????”

In a statement to Texas’ Fort Worth Star-Telegram, American Airlines said its “primary concern is for the Zanone family and their young child” and that it was “in the process of reaching out” to Ms Zanone.

“Customers trust us to take care of them and we take that responsibility seriously. Our flight attendants offered to request medical personnel meet the aircraft upon arrival at the gate, but that request was declined by Mrs Zanone,” the airline said.

Ms Zanone told the Star-Telegram she did decline medical assistance but preferred the option of having her son see his own doctor.

“We were offered medical assistance immediately following the incident and we did decline because I didn’t know what the medic could do on site with a jet-lagged, exhausted child so I chose to monitor him myself until I could get him back to his own doctor,” she said.

She added an airline staff member had called her to say she would be emailed more information but was yet to hear back.