Anger as man with disabilities ‘booted off’ flight as wheelchair was ‘too heavy’
A MAN with cerebral palsy was removed from a flight because his wheelchair was too “heavy” to lift off a conveyor belt.
Brandon Aughton, 24, was due to fly to Malaga from East Midlands Airport on Monday, October 11 with his carer.
However, the airline’s ground services decided the wheelchair was too heavy to lift after Brandon had already boarded the plane.
Ryanair staff then “unceremoniously booted” Brandon and his carer, Orla Hennessey, off the flight after the pilot made the decision to carry on to avoid further delays to the flight schedule.
Swissport, Ryanair’s ground services and air cargo handling company, reportedly ignored Brandon’s letter from Ryanair to say the chair was not too heavy and it could be taken.
Brandon, whose condition affects his movement and co-ordination, said: “I’ve flown twice like that before and never had any issues, I was angry.”
Orla, 41, who works for carer company Right at Home, said: “Brandon got really upset at one point - it felt like no one wanted to help us.
“It was Swissport’s responsibility to put the wheelchair on the plane and tell the ground crew that it needs to go on the plane but they didn’t do it and there wasn’t any equipment to lift it as it’s a 270kg chair.
“There were four of them there saying they could not lift it because of health and safety and they unceremoniously booted us off the flight even though we had the letter from Ryanair to say the chair was not too heavy and it could be taken.
“The lady from Swissport said we gave them wrong information, but we told them they had the information as Ryanair said it was all fine.
“When we were going through customs, I was told I had a dangerous item in my bag, but it was an Allen key to take apart Brandon’s chair, so I queried this and was told I would be let through this time, but don’t let it happen again.”
Brandon and Orla’s holiday was delayed by two days when they were finally able to fly out with Ryanair to Malaga late on Tuesday, October 12.
This was Brandon’s first holiday since shielding for two years, but the pair had to compromise Brandon’s mobility to be able to fly.
Brandon said: “I missed out on 48 hours of my holiday.”
Orla said: “Brandon still wanted to go on holiday and a disability holiday agency managed to get flights for us the next day but we had to take a manual wheelchair - which is completely unacceptable for Brandon’s needs.
“He didn’t have his mobility and it’s basically like taking someone’s legs away from them - it was quite distressing.
A spokesperson for Swissport said: “We are saddened to hear the customer’s claims about an incident at East Midlands Airport.
“We take our responsibilities towards disabled passengers extremely seriously and understand how important it is that travel for all passengers runs smoothly.”
An East Midlands Airport (EMA) spokesperson added: “We were sorry to learn of the circumstances in which Brandon’s wheelchair was considered too heavy to be loaded onto the aircraft.
“Having supported Brandon and his companion to the aircraft in one of our specially-adapted vehicles, we were made aware of the handling agent’s decision not to accept his wheelchair. When a solution could not be found, we escorted him back to the terminal and we understand he was able to re-book a flight the following day.
“We regularly review and assess all procedures and services - whether they are the direct responsibility of the airport or those which are delivered by the airlines and handling agents that operate from East Midlands. This is to ensure that passengers receive the highest standards of customer service at all stages in their journey through the airport.
“We pride ourselves in the quality of support we offer all customers who need support at the airport. At its last assessment, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rated EMA’s accessibility services ‘very good,’ which is the highest possible rating.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “We liaised with this customer directly and this has been resolved.”
‘I’VE NEVER HAD THESE