New Delhi: A shamefully embarrassing experience awaited a differently-abled journalist from the UK while returning home on LOT Polish Airlines from Warsaw, Poland, as the airline failed to provide wheelchair facilities onboard, forcing him to crawl across the cabin.
om Warsaw, Poland, as the airline failed to provide wheelchair facilities onboard, forcing him to crawl across the cabin.
British journalist, Frank Gardner, took to X to share that he had to crawl on hands and knees because he had to pass urine during the flight. The crew told him that the airline did not provide its passengers with onboard wheelchairs and leave him to crawl into the toilet.
Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as “we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy”. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory. pic.twitter.com/aFuxo89DR5
---Advertisement---— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) September 30, 2024
Frank Gardner Shared About ‘No Wheelchair’ Policy
Frank Gardner expressed his shock, saying, “It’s 2024, and I had to crawl on the floor of a LOT Polish airline to reach the toilet during a flight from Warsaw because they said, ‘we don’t have onboard wheelchairs—it’s airline policy.’ If you’re disabled and can’t walk, this is outright discrimination.”
As he was agitated at this point, Gardner set the record straight that it is the airline’s fault and not due to the cabin crew. On top of that, he clarified that they have done their best considering the situation.
Gardner further commented on the cabin crew that they have been as helpful and apologetic as possible, stating that it is not their fault but the airline’s. Furthermore, he said that he would never fly with LOT again unless they update their policies towards modern standards.
The attack left him partially paralyzed while reporting from the Middle East. The journalist has experience reporting stories from some of the world’s most dangerous locations. In 2004, he was attacked by Al-Qaeda militants while reporting in Saudi Arabia and remained unable to walk.
Journalist Observed The Cabin Crew Embarrassed
In An interview with BBC, Frank Gardner said, “The cabin crew really helped as much as they could and looked embarrassed, but the question here is that is it that difficult to get a wheelchair in the aircraft.
'It's inhumane.. sort it out'
BBC journalist Frank Gardner told #BBCBreakfast he had to crawl to the loo on a flight from Warsaw to London because the Polish airline LOT does not have on board wheelchairshttps://t.co/4waCUCiBeY pic.twitter.com/ySoc1fkZ52
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 1, 2024
After the Jounalist’s tweet people started bashing the airline badly, one user commented “This airline needs to be challenged on its disability rights and accessibility policies. It’s unbelievable that this is still happening in 2024”. Another said, “It’s shocking and upsetting to hear this. Isn’t it time airlines were required to provide onboard wheelchairs in order to maintain their licenses to fly into international airports?”
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