“Pay Rs 5 lakh to disabled boy for the trauma”: DGCA to Airline
“Pay Rs 5 lakh to disabled boy for the trauma”: DGCA to Airline
Despite having all the necessary documentation and arriving at the airport well in advance, the family was shocked when the airline staff refused to allow the minor to board the flight.
Ending a two-year battle of a boy and his family, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on an airline that denied boarding to a differently abled minor.
The incident occurred two years ago. On May 7, 2022, the minor was scheduled to fly with his family. Despite having all the necessary documentation and arriving at the airport well in advance, the family was shocked when the airline staff refused to allow the minor to board the flight.
“I have finally won the battle after two long years and can hope that no other person is treated the way I was back then. It is very terrifying for us when such things happen. We are not disabled by choice and even we deserve to be treated as any other human being,” the boy said.
The reason cited according to the airline was the safety of other passengers.
Back then, the airline released a statement and noted: “In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7, as he was in a state of panic. The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute but to no avail.”
Reminiscing the incident with a sense of distress, the minor recounted that it was humiliating and terrifying. “I felt helpless and isolated as if my disability made me less deserving of basic rights. The fellow passengers were accommodating but the ground staff was not at all agreeing with any of them as well,” he said, as per Midday.
The minor said, “Fellow passengers also protested against the airline manager present at the airport pulling up their phones and showing news articles and Supreme Court judgments to the on-ground manager but to no avail. Tears still come to my eyes when I recount the incident. I am still traumatised and have nightmares about it.”
A fellow passenger of the minor took to social media platform and narrated the whole incident.
A Facebook post of Manisha Gupta, stated, “The airline manager kept shouting and telling everyone that ‘the child is uncontrollable’. To this, we protested, saying, ‘The only person who is in panic is you’, welcoming the minor on board and consenting that we would travel with the minor. The airline manager still kept shouting the same.”
“A group of doctors travelling on the same flight offered to provide full support to me and my parents if any health episode were to occur mid-air. But the manager did not agree to anything,” the minor added.
The family was provided hotel accommodation by the airline and flew to its destination the following day.
