Engineer ‘was thrown off US f light’ af ter asking for it to be nut free
An engineer has claimed that she was ‘thrown off’ a flight to new york after asking for the entire plane to be nut free because of her allergies.
Sophie Draper, 26, had been due to travel from Heathrow on an American Airlines flight with her boyfriend.
But the PHD researcher, from Durham, said she was ‘discriminated against’ after telling staff that her nut allergy can be triggered by airborne particles.
After being ‘met with confused looks’, she warned that she could suffer a bad reaction if nuts were near to her.
In a Twitter thread, Miss Draper claimed that cabin crew had tried to ‘row back’ and offer ‘scraps of reassurance’, telling her they didn’t serve peanuts or mixed nuts in economy class.
She added: [They were] not getting the point that I am allergic to tree nuts as well as peanuts and that the allergy is airborne.’ She also alleged that when she asked the crew about the risks from recirculated air or of another passenger opening a bag of nuts, they replied: ‘We can’t do anything about that.’
Miss Draper said that she and her boyfriend Pete became ‘really concerned’ at the crew’s ‘blase’ manner. When her partner asked how the airline would react if she went into anaphylactic shock over the Atlantic, a crew member allegedly replied: ‘[Pete] knows how to use your epi-pen, right?’
She also claimed a member of staff ‘bluntly’ said: ‘Well, they’re not going to stop serving nuts on the aircraft… I really doubt that’s gonna happen’. When the couple raised their concerns with the head of the flight’s cabin crew, she claimed they were told American Airlines was ‘contractually obligated’ to serve mixed nuts in first class.
Miss Draper and her boyfriend were then allegedly escorted off the plane following the incident in December as she ‘broke down in tears’. She added: ‘I felt totally discriminated against for a health condition I have no control over.’
Slamming their ‘heartless’ policy, she described the US company as a ‘dangerous airline for people with food allergies’.
Miss Draper said they eventually flew to new york on a British Airways flight where crew stopped serving all nut products, made several announcements and spoke to all passengers near her.
A spokesman for American Airlines said: ‘We regret that we disappointed Miss Draper and her travel partner during this trip, and our team has reached out to apologise and hear more about their experience.’
The operator added that it does not serve peanuts in flight but ‘can’t guarantee’ flyers will not be exposed to nuts. The company has also urged all passengers with allergies to take the ‘necessary medical precautions’ before flying.
In 2016, a 15-year-old girl died after she suffered an allergic reaction on a flight to nice. natasha Ednan-Laperouse collapsed after she ate a Pret A Manger baguette at Heathrow without knowing it contained sesame seeds.
A law named after her came into force last year which requires retailers to display full ingredient and allergen labelling on all foods made on the premises.