An EasyJet flight left three wheelchair-dependent customers behind when it took off without them.
Liz Weir was one of three wheelchair passengers who were left stranded at Belfast International Airport after their flight to Edinburgh flew off with their luggage.
She said she was sitting on the tarmac waiting to be boarded after other passengers when the doors were closed and the plane left.
EasyJet refused to board Ms Weir and other passengers who needed help, so she missed the storytelling session at the Midlothian Arts Festival. Ms Weir was scheduled to go to the Scottish capital for the event.
EasyJet stated that the situation was being looked into and that it would compensate Ms Weir and the other passengers who were left stranded.
The woman, from County Antrim, said she had allowed plenty of time to check in for her flight and had been escorted to the steps of the aircraft for the flight, EZY55, at 1 pm on Friday, BBC News reported.
However, she said that after the doors had already closed, the pilot signalled that she wouldn’t be let to board the aircraft.
She described her ordeal as ‘exhausting’ and ‘distressing’.
Later on in the evening, Ms Weir posted a picture of herself getting ready to board a trip to Scotland.
She wrote: ‘Trying again on a flight leaving at 8 50. It’s bad enough when a bus leaves you at the stop but when a jet leaves you on the tarmac….how often do people say ‘They won’t go without us!’ Except they did!’
In a statement, EasyJet said: ‘We are very sorry that flight EZY55 from Belfast to Edinburgh on Friday 21 June departed without three passengers who were being accompanied by the airport’s special assistance provider.
‘We have urgently raised with the provider and our ground-handling team to understand why this happened.
‘We are doing everything possible to assist the passengers, arranging for flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh later this evening to get them to their destination as quickly as possible.
”Our team looked after them throughout and provided them with refreshment vouchers while they waited for their new flight.
“We will also be processing the compensation they are due.”
The handicapped people were handled via the boarding gates if they were on the tarmac. Thus, when the flight attendants counted heads, the number of passengers would have equalled up. This is an airline problem as well as a problem with ground operations; the flight should never have been closed, much less taken off.
The disabled passengers should always be on first and off last, that’s what most airlines do.
Usually, passengers who need assistance board first so that they can take their time getting into their seats with some dignity and not being stared at by other passengers. They’re usually last off for the same reasons. Something went badly wrong here.
The cabin crew normally do a head count before closing the doors. Surely they would have noticed three passengers missing from the list. There was no excuse for these passengers being left behind.
Not every traveller has a living or available family member to help them, thus it is the responsibility of the airport employees to transport individuals in wheelchairs. Incidents such as these should not deter people in wheelchairs or other forms of mobility, but rather inspire them to be independent!
If anyone doubts there’s no genuine hostility towards disabled people then they might want to think again. It’s almost a fetish, a gleeful delight in compounding the physical difficulties disabled people have to manage, but what people don’t realise is that having a disability could affect us all one day in our lives – I bet those people wouldn’t want to be treated with hostility and contempt then? So, why do it now?
I feel sorry for those on the receiving end of such nastiness but even more for those dishing it out because I’d hate to be living in your head – must be awful.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 