A paralyzed 40-year old man was forced to crawl his way out of a Delta Airlines plane because of lack of assistance from airline personnel.
Former college professor D. Baraka Kanaan flew to Nantucket in July 2012 for the Nantucket Yoga Festival. Prior to his flight, he informed the airline about his condition and made the necessary arrangements for the trip: he requested for an aisle seat on the plane, a wheelchair, and assistance in going down from the plane. Delta Airlines confirmed that his requests would be accommodated.
However, when he arrived on his destination, a flight attendant informed him that they could not give him the things he requested for due to lack of equipment. He was also told that the crew would not be able to assist him off the plane. Left with no choice, D. Baraka Kanaan made his way through the cabin, down the stairs, and across the tarmac, crawling with his hands while the airline crew watched.
He then reported what happened to Delta Airlines, who assured him that he would be properly assisted on his return flight back to Hawaii. Unfortunately, when he was back on the airport after two days, he was again told that the airline would not be able to give him an aisle seat nor any assistance in boarding the plane. So the man had to crawl his way once more across the tarmac, up the stairs into the plane, through the cabin, and into his seat.
The only assistance that Delta Airlines offered him was a piece of cardboard he could put under him so his clothes would remain clean while he made his way to the plane. They also wanted to give him a voucher worth $100 and 25,000 flyer miles for all the trouble he went through in alighting and boarding the plane.
D. Baraka Kanaan filed a lawsuit against the airline for not complying with the Air Carrier Access Act, which mandates airlines to give assistance to disabled passengers in boarding and alighting airplanes and in going to their connecting flights. His lawsuit falls alongside 5,000 other complaints against the airline’s bad treatment of disabled passengers.
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