Disabled woman left alone on plane (From Chorley Citizen)

Disabled woman left alone on plane

11:31am Wednesday 29th March 2006 in News By Chris Gee

A disabled gran who was left abandoned on a plane for more than an hour has described her feelings of humiliation and despair'.

Joan Cummings, of Draperfield, Chorley, had touched down at Stansted Airport on a Ryanair flight from Spain last Wednesday, March 23, when she was left alone on the holiday jet by the crew, cleaning staff and even the pilot.

Mrs Cummings, 63, who is a grandmother of 13 and great-gran of one, only disembarked after a worker spotted her empty wheelchair outside the plane standing in an inch of snow.

Her ordeal began after workers failed to arrive with a special lift to lower her from the plane's exit.

She said: "Me and my husband Sam had just arrived back after a lovely holiday in Jerez.

"All the passengers got off, but nobody arrived to help me.

No-one should be treated in such a rude and uncaring way.

Joan Cummings

"After a few minutes the crew began to leave, telling me they had phoned through for assistance. Then even the captain left.

"All the time Sam was on the Tarmac waiting in the snow in his sandals."

She added: "After around 45 minutes, cleaning staff arrived and then the crew and passengers for the next flight started to board.

"At this point I was very distressed and felt humiliated and abandoned."

Mrs Cummings was eventually helped to leave the plane more than an hour after it landed, but she was not given any apology at the time.

She added: "Since the accident that left me paraplegic in 1998, I've travelled all over the world by air without incident.

"No-one should be treated in such a rude and uncaring way."

Bert Massie, chair of the Disability Rights Commission, said: "The airport authorities should be ashamed of themselves.

"In this day and age no business should be able to get away with treating customers so shoddily.

"Unfortunately, a loophole in the law means disabled people can't get compensation for such appalling treatment or even demand help because of their disability."

A spokesman for Ryanair said they had asked Stansted-based Airfield Services Ltd to investigate the incident.

Mrs Cummings has since received a written apology from Airfield Services Ltd, who are responsible for wheelchair assistance.

They say they were regrettably delayed' and an investigation has found a breakdown in communication between our controller and agents'.