easyJet 'turns away' paralympian
A top Shropshire paralympic sportsman is locked in a row with a low cost airline after it refused to let him board a flight.
Jason Roberts, of St Martins, Oswestry, claims that he was blocked from boarding an easyJet flight from Luton to Dortmund by the pilot because he claims he was considered a danger to the other passengers in case of an emergency, because he could not walk to the aircraft's toilet.
The wheelchair rugby player, who represented Great Britain at the Beijing Paralympics, has vowed to never travel with the airline again.
Mr Roberts, 36, was travelling to Germany to be fitted for a new wheelchair to enable him to continue playing wheelchair rugby.
He said: "I had checked in as normal at the airport and I had been taken to the aircraft aboard a special lift.
"I was just feet away from boarding with all the other passengers watching me when the pilot decided I could not fly."
He added: "It was only when I got to the aircraft that there was a problem. I have travelled with most low-cost airlines before and flown scores of times with easyJet without any problems.
Humiliating
"I was asked if I could walk down the aisle of the plane to use the toilet, but I told them I didn't need to and suddenly the pilot was refusing to let me board.
"It was humiliating and wrong," said Mr Roberts who wears a colostomy bag.
He said he was initially offered a credit note for another flight by the airline, but he refused and was eventually given the full £163 cost of the journey.
But Mr Roberts wants the airline to refund him for the cost of his missed appointment in Dortmund, his hotel and travel bills.
"I am not going to let it rest," he said. "I have flown all around the world to play wheelchair rugby and I've never heard of anything like this before."
A spokesman for easyJet said: "Our terms and conditions state if a passenger with reduced mobility requires assistance during the flight, they must be accompanied.
"Safety is the top priority at easyJet and this rule ensures all passengers are able to evacuate the aircraft in the unlikely event of emergency.
"easyJet was unable to accept Mr Roberts on the grounds he would have required assistance in such circumstances, the captain used a reference to accessing the toilet to visualise the requirement of such assistance.
"However we accept Mr Roberts should have been advised of this at check-in and easyJet apologises for any embarrassment and inconvenience."
By Brett Gibbons
