Disabled Passenger Kicked Off Flight After Telling Crew He Needed Help To Reach Toilet

A disabled passenger requiring a wheelchair was kicked off a flight after he alerted the crew about needing assistance to reach the toilet. The man, who was reportedly left stranded at Melbourne Airport in Australia, claims that the decision to boot him off the flight stemmed from the crew’s wrong assumption of the nature of assistance requested due to his disability.

Finland native Craig Nolan, 43, was returning to his home country after being in Australia since September when he attended a family funeral. For his flight back home, Nolan was flying with Qatar Airways and had informed them in advance about his disability and that he’d be flying solo, Guardian reported.

Nolan’s wheelchair was checked in and he was transferred to an aisle chair – a small wheelchair used to transport immobile passengers to their plane seats. The ground staff had lifted him over a large step from the airbridge to the plane.

However, he was kicked out of the plane before the plane could take off Monday. The reason was Nolan’s request to a crew member that he’d require help to push his aisle chair to the in-cabin bathroom. A short while later, another crew member arrived and told Nolan that he’d need to exit the plane.

“I sat there and a stewardess approached me and asked what help I needed during the flight and I said (to go to the bathroom) just bring the aisle chair, and that I’m independent otherwise in the bathroom, but again just take me back to my seat afterwards, as is their job as a stewardess,” he said, 7News reported.

“She said OK and walked away and five to 10 minutes later another stewardess walked towards me and said I need to leave the flight,” Nolan added. He was told it was the captain’s decision and was denied the opportunity to confirm it himself.

The distraught passenger believes he was removed from the flight because the crew wrongly assumed that he would need assistance for the full duration of the flight, including his time in the bathroom.

“Had they listened they would have realized I only needed help to be pushed from my chair to the toilet, which is part of their job description. I wasn’t asking for help in the plane or in the bathroom,” Nolan said.

Nolan’s ordeal continued after being stranded at the airport. Qatar Airways said he would receive a refund on the flight after a deduction of $400 because he was listed as a “no-show” in their system. Nolan said he has traveled to about 30 countries over the past 20 years and never experienced trouble like this ever before.

Nolan’s experience comes on the heels of a report commissioned by the Disability Royal Commission which called for an overhaul of Australia’s complaint mechanism processes to protect disabled people efficiently.

“Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation are serious violations of the human rights of people with disability, and allegations require dedicated processes of reporting and resolution. We urgently need to design complaint processes that are perceived as independent, trustworthy and effective by people with disability,” the report said.

Qatar Airways did not respond to the outlets’ requests for comment.

In a similar incident, a disabled female was allegedly forced to crawl across the aisle while deboarding a plane after being told that the aisle chair was unavailable unless it was paid for.