Man Forced To Crawl Down Plane Aisle When Crew Doesn't Bring Wheelchair
A man who uses a wheelchair said he had to crawl through an airplane because airline staff failed to assist him.
According to Yahoo! News, D'Arcee Neal is confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy and recently flew to San Francisco to speak about accessible transportation for the disabled.
When his United Airlines flight landed back at Virginia's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Tuesday, Neal waited for a crew member to bring him an aisle chair so he could exit the aircraft as the rest of the passengers already did.
But no one came, and Neal, who sat in the middle of the plane, needed to use the restroom.
So, he crawled up the aisle to the door of the plane where his wheelchair was stored.
I mean, it's humiliating. No one should have to do what I did.
Neal retrieved his wheelchair and deplaned without trouble.
United Airlines told NBC Washington the passenger should not have had to wait for an aisle chair.
Neal said,
Half the time, I feel like airlines treat people with disabilities as a secondary concern.
American Airlines was sued last summer for allegedly forcing Theresa Purcell, who uses a wheelchair, to crawl onto the plane in front of several people.
She claimed because a wheelchair ramp was apparently inaccessible at that specific time, a gate agent left her no choice but to crawl onto her flight leaving from San Diego.
Dara Baldwin of the National Disability Rights Network told NBC Washington numerous airlines received complaints about similar incidents; she said 27,500 complaints of this nature were filed in 2014 alone.
Citations: Man in Wheelchair Forced to Crawl Off Plane (Yahoo! News), Man With Disabilities Crawls Off Plane After Airline Fails to Assist Him (NBC Washington)
