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Home / News / World News / Given no wheelchair, paralyzed journalist crawls to plane's toilet 
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Given no wheelchair, paralyzed journalist crawls to plane's toilet 
The incident occurred on a flight from Warsaw to London

Given no wheelchair, paralyzed journalist crawls to plane's toilet 

By Chanshimla Varah
Oct 02, 2024
03:51 pm

What's the story

Frank Gardner, the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) security correspondent, has publicly criticized LOT Polish Airlines for its lack of onboard aisle chairs.

The incident occurred on a flight from Warsaw to London, during which Gardner was compelled to crawl on the floor of the plane to reach the toilet.

Describing his experience as "physically deeply uncomfortable and...quite degrading," he took to social media to express his dissatisfaction with the airline's policy.

Discrimination claim

Gardner calls out LOT Polish Airlines's discriminatory policy

Gardner, who was paralyzed from the knees down after being shot by al-Qaeda sympathizers in Saudi Arabia in 2004, labeled the incident as "discriminatory."

"This is 2024, not 1970, and I find it extraordinary that an airline is allowed to fly in and out of British airports with a policy that effectively says 'if you can't walk, you can't go to the toilet on our planes,'" he stated.

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Airline response

LOT Polish Airlines apologizes, cites limited space

LOT Polish Airlines issued an apology for the distressing experience Gardner encountered due to the lack of an onboard wheelchair.

The airline explained that while onboard wheelchairs are available on their Dreamliner aircraft, limited space prevents them from equipping their short-haul fleet with this facility.

However, they assured that they are actively testing solutions to equip their short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs in the near future.

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2017 

Gardner had criticized another airline in 2017 

In 2017, Gardner had criticized the treatment of disabled passengers traveling by plane after being left on an EasyJet flight when it landed at Gatwick airport.

Gardner said he was left on the plane after all other passengers left because special assistance staff failed to turn up.

The journalist blamed the outsourcing group OCS, which is responsible for disability access at the airport, but also criticized EasyJet for not using an airbridge that was visible from the plane.

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