'It felt really demeaning': Passenger with disability removed from flight at Vancouver airport
Thirty-two-year-old Shayne De Wildt has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia, but that doesn’t stop him from playing the game he loves. De Wildt competes in power soccer, an adaptive sport for people who use wheelchairs.
The IT assistant from North Vancouver frequently travels to power soccer events across Canada.
“I’ve flown plenty in my life, and with this wheelchair I’ve flown (for) about six years, and never encountered anything like this,” De Wildt said. “When things went sour was when I was on board the flight.”
As he settled into his seat on a WestJet flight from Vancouver to Calgary last Friday, De Wildt was approached by airline staff, who told him there was a problem with one of his electric wheelchairs.
In an interview with CTV News, WestJet spokesperson Morgan Bell explained the chair was too tall to wheel into the cargo hold upright, so the ground crew had flipped it on its side, causing lights to activate on the back of the chair. And Bell says that’s a big problem.
“The aircraft can’t depart with any kind of unintentional power activation in devices in the belly of the aircraft,” she said.
While the plane sat on the tarmac and passengers waited, De Wildt says the baggage manager asked him how to disconnect the wheelchair’s batteries. He called the medical equipment company, and passed the phone to the ground crew to try to figure out a solution, to no avail.
“After what was close to an hour of trying to rectify it, the decision was made to offload the wheelchair and Shayne, ultimately, because the plane couldn’t safely depart,” said Bell.
De Wildt says being removed from the plane in front of other passengers because his wheelchair could not be safely stored in the cargo hold was humiliating.
“It felt really demeaning to me, being that I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m being treated like a second-class citizen in my own country,” he said. “It’s bewildering to me how something like this still happens in 2022.”
WestJet acknowledges the incident should never have happened.
“We sincerely apologize to Shayne,” said Bell. “We realize that was not an enjoyable experience for him to have to endure on the aircraft, especially given the fact that he had checked in, he had done everything right, and had been loaded onto the aircraft and his wheelchair was sitting there and it seemed to be powered off. And then when it got into the belly hold of the aircraft, that’s when the problems ensued.”
Ultimately, Air Canada was able to fly De Wildt to Calgary later that same day. That airline’s ground crew knew not to tip the wheelchair over when it was being loaded onto the plane, and removed the headrest to ensure it went in upright. WestJet said it will take steps to make sure this mistake never happens again.
“I think there is a lot of learning that the ground crew has learned from this, even dealing with the other operator that did carry the wheelchair. They know how to deal with that,” said Bell. “We believe we would be better prepared next time to make sure that this didn’t happen.”
De Wildt says many of his friends who use wheelchairs are hesitant to fly out of fear of encountering these types of issues with their essential equipment.
“I think it’s important to bring this to light and to help these airlines and people to be aware,” he said.
He wants airlines to ensure all staff and contractors know how to properly handle wheelchairs. And he won’t let the embarassing incident keep him from flying, saying:
“I play a sport and I compete, and you have to be able to travel doing this sport.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Hackers release corporate data stolen from London Drugs
Retailer London Drugs says cybercriminals who stole files from its corporate head office last month have released some of the data after it refused to pay a ransom.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Approximately 50 Montreal-area students — the vast majority of them female — were suspended Wednesday after their school deemed the shorts they were wearing were too short. On Thursday, several students staged a walk-out to protest what they believe is a "sexist" dress code that unfairly targets girls.
Oilers' Henrique, Stars' Hintz out for Game 1 of West final
Top-line Dallas Stars centre Roope Hintz will still be out of the lineup for the Western Conference Final opener Thursday night against Edmonton, which is still without forward Adam Henrique.
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
What is 'slapped cheek disease' and should parents be concerned?
Despite its rough name, experts say most cases of 'slapped cheek disease' are mild and not a cause for concern.
American Airlines retreats after blaming a 9-year-old for not seeing a hidden camera in a lavatory
American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a nine-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.
Unknown Newfoundland soldier from the First World War heads back home from France after 100 years
Canadian soldiers and government officials arrived in northeastern France this week for a historic mission: returning an unknown Newfoundland soldier back home.
Calgary Philharmonic takes action following investigation into 'deeply troubling' comments by 2 musicians
The Calgary Philharmonic has confirmed its taking action after controversial online comments made by two members of the orchestra.