A disabled BBC journalist has slammed Iberia and UK airports after he said he was “stuck on a Gatwick plane” after a flight home.
Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, posted a photo of an abandoned plane cabin on Twitter, saying: “FFS not again! I’ve just returned from a grueling week covering the NATO summit in Madrid and, surprise surprise, I’m still stuck on the plane at Gatwick.
“The Iberia crew left and a new crew came on board.
“WHY are UK airports so consistent about taking disabled people off planes?”
In a follow-up message, Mr Gardner clarified that his producer had stayed with him on the plane “but the crew had moved away”.
In a later post, Mr Gardner said he had been waiting for 20 minutes, but added that ground workers did not know he was waiting to get help.
“I’ve already got off the plane – only 20 minutes late, which is easy – but the ground operators said ‘nobody told us there was a disabled passenger on board.’ Iberia insists they did. All in all, so boring and boring!” Mr. Gardner wrote.
When a follower asked about comparative experiences at other airports in different countries, an exasperated Mr Gardner replied: “It never happens overseas, only in the UK.”
Another wheelchair user Jan Crispin replied: “True, that’s been my experience too.”
Mr Gardner is an experienced Middle East correspondent and author of books including Crisis, Ultimatum, Blood and Sand and Far Horizons. In 2004, he was shot six times by al-Qaeda operatives during a mission in Saudi Arabia and paralyzed, while his cameraman was killed in the attack.
He told the BBC in a 2020 article that he can stand with the help of calipers and a frame, but it is usually more efficient to use a wheelchair.
In May 2022, Mr Gardner tweeted that he was stuck on a plane landing at Heathrow.
“It happened again. Stuck on an empty plane at Heathrow long after everyone else had left – ‘no staff to take my wheelchair off the plane’. VERY disappointed in @HeathrowAirport as apparently disabled passengers are the lowest priority again,” he wrote at the time.
According to the Civil Aviation Agency, passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility “have a legal right to support known as ‘special assistance’ when traveling by air”.
“This means airports and airlines must provide help and assistance that is free of charge and helps ensure you have a less stressful journey.”
Wheelchair users are usually required to notify their airline 48 hours before the flight that they require special assistance, which is often provided by dedicated staff from the airport assistance team.
Mr Gardner did not say whether he had pre-booked special assistance at Gatwick in this case.
Gatwick’s Special Assistance (SA) policy says the airport aims to have all pre-booked SA customers arriving on flights at the airport met within 20 minutes. However, its online targets state that it aims to have support staff ready at the gate five minutes after arrival 80 per cent of the time.
A Gatwick spokesman said: “We apologize for the delay Mr Gardner experienced on this occasion. We have been working closely with our support provider, Wilson James, to identify the reasons for this.
“At this stage it appears that there has been no booking of special assistance from the airline for Mr Gardner. However, as soon as we were notified, the team responded and Mr. Gardner received help within 20 minutes.
“We aim to provide the best possible service to all passengers, so we will continue to look into this with Wilson James and the airline concerned.” We apologize again for Mr. Gardner’s delay in returning from the NATO summit in Madrid.
Iberia denied that Mr Gardner was left alone after the passengers disembarked. A spokesman for the carrier said: “At all times established procedure was followed so that on arrival at his destination the assistance service for our customers with reduced mobility was provided.
“During boarding at Madrid (MAD), the request for assistance at Gatwick (LGW) was logged through the notification system set up at the airport. Additionally, the crew radioed the request during the approach to the airport, and the service coordinator who was present on the flight also requested the service by phone when the descent began and after seeing that help had not arrived when the aircraft landed .
“By the time the service arrived, the Iberia Express flight crew attended to Frank and another customer who had notified the service in advance and was also waiting for assistance as they were both picked up at the same time.”
Last week, wheelchair user Suzanne Croft spoke of feeling “traumatised and humiliated” after special assistance was slow or non-existent at two separate UK airports, with her husband and airline staff having to ” removed’ from her flight at Heathrow.
Ms Croft, who has muscular dystrophy, was flying from Newcastle International to London Heathrow on June 9 when there were problems getting help from the airport.
Upon arrival, her husband and airline staff “had to put me in a folding chair without a seat belt. My husband held my legs while a kind crew member on the next flight pushed me to the arrivals lounge,” she told reporters.
“It’s not the waiting, I’m used to it. This is the humiliation and the humiliation,” she added.
James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Frank Gardner is regularly frustrated at UK airports and he is an experienced journalist and traveler with a significant profile and platform.
“But this is not a new phenomenon, disabled people in this country have often been failed before the current shortage of staff. We have long been extremely concerned that airports, airlines and rail operators are not complying with the regulations.
“This is going on too long. The impact is often humiliating, stressful and anxiety-provoking and stops some disabled people from traveling altogether. It’s time for regulations to have teeth and be backed up with fines and penalties.”
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