Disabled UK journalist crawls on flight after airline fails to give wheelchair

Renowned British journalist Frank Gardner had to crawl across the cabin floor of a LOT Polish Airlines flight due to the airline's lack of onboard wheelchair facilities.

In Short

• Renowned British journalist Frank Gardner had to crawl on LOT Polish Airlines flight
• It all happened when Gardner, partially paralysed, wanted to use toilet
• According to the airline's policy, it doesn't provide onboard wheelchair facilities

A British journalist, who lost his legs following an attack during a war reporting in the Middle East in 2004, was forced to crawl across the cabin floor of a LOT Polish Airlines flight due to the airline’s lack of onboard wheelchair facilities.

Frank Gardner, a seasoned BBC correspondent, was returning from Warsaw when he had to go through the "shocking" situation.

In a post on X, Gardner said that it all happened when he needed to use the toilet during the flight, only to be informed by the crew that the airline does not provide onboard wheelchairs – a decision that left him with no choice but to crawl.

“Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as ‘we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy’. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory,” Gardner said.

Despite his frustration, Gardner was quick to clarify that the cabin crew did their best under the circumstances.

“In fairness to the cabin crew, they were as helpful and apologetic as they could be. Not their fault, it’s the airline. Won’t be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century,” he added.

Take a look at his post here:

Frank Gardner’s career has seen him report from some of the world’s most dangerous regions. In 2004, while covering a story in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Gardner was ambushed by Al-Qaeda gunmen, which left him partially paralysed.

Social media users empathised with Gardner’s disbelief. “Shocking - so sorry to hear this, isn’t it time airlines are obliged to provide onboard wheelchairs to be able to hold licences to fly into international airports,” a user said.

Another user added, “Sorry, Frank. This is pretty tough on anyone and degrading. Thank you for your many years of great Middle East commentary and analysis. I have always appreciated your work and admire your stoicism.”

See the comments:

LOT Polish Airlines is yet to respond officially to the matter. Meanwhile, Frank Gardner’s shocking experience triggered a discussion online on the treatment of disabled passengers in the aviation industry, with several users calling for urgent reforms.