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New Delhi: A female cancer patient, who recently underwent surgery, was allegedly offloaded from an American Airlines flight to New York at the Delhi airport, When she asked a flight attendant for help in placing her hand-bag in the overhead cabin.
In her complaint to Delhi Police and Civil Air, Meenakshi Sengupta said that she had also requested for wheelchair assistance for her seat, “I was also wearing a brace which was visible to all and they would know that I have some problem.. because I can’t lift any weight in my hands at all and I’m weak from surgery and don’t need to stress myself by walking too much.”
She said, “The ground staff was very cooperative and helped me board the plane and put my handbag on the edge of the seat. Once inside the flight, I had a chat with the air hostess and I told her about my health condition. ” ..none of them told me to put my handbag away. After the flight took off, the cabin lights were dimmed. At that time an air hostess came to put my handbag in the overhead compartment. I requested him to help me. But he refused to do so and told me that it was not his business to do so.”
Sengupta further mentioned that she “repeatedly” asked him to assist but the latter refused his request and told him to do so on his own and left. Sengupta alleged, “She was very rude and arrogant with her words.
“They said if I am feeling so uncomfortable then I should get off the plane. They were collective in their decision to get me off the plane,” Sengupta said.
The incident also went viral on social media and people urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to look into the matter.
“Disgusting behavior from @AmericanAir staff towards a #cancer patient – Meenakshi Sengupta, who was de-boarded from a flight for not carrying her handbag as cancer has weakened her arms and the crew won’t help Shameful @DCWDelhi @SwatiJaiHind please take note @Pib_MoCA,” tweeted. A Twitter user said citing the incident.
Meanwhile, India’s regulator- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken cognizance of the matter and asked American Airlines to submit its report. In its official statement, the airline said that its customer relations team has contacted Sengupta to refund the unused portion of his ticket.
“On January 30, prior to American Airlines Flight 293’s departure from Delhi (DEL) to New York (JFK), a disruptive customer was removed from the aircraft for failure to comply with crew members’ instructions .Our customer relations team has contacted .the customer to refund the unused portion of their ticket,” the airline said, adding the matter is under investigation.
