NEW DELHI // A disabled passenger said on Sunday she was forced to crawl on New Delhi airport’s tarmac after Air India failed to provide a wheelchair when her plane landed, an allegation the carrier denies.
Anita Ghai, 53, a leading disability rights activist, said she was left stranded after arriving in Delhi from the northern Indian city of Dehradun on Saturday evening.
After being helped down steps from the plane by airline staff and a friend, Ms Ghai said no wheelchair was available for her to reach the terminal-bound bus several metres away.
“We were kept waiting on the tarmac for half an hour before a passenger coach came to pick me up. I had to crawl on the tarmac to board the coach,” Ms Ghai said.
“I kept on reminding the staff to arrange a wheelchair throughout the journey but to my shock when we landed there was none and all they said was there were security reasons.”
Ms Ghai, who is confined to a wheelchair after suffering polio as a child, described the incident as shocking and embarrassing.
Air India denied the incident and said there was a delay in taking the wheelchair to the plane because it was parked in an outlying bay.
“We strongly deny the statement. We at Air India give utmost importance to passenger’s safety and comfort,” it said, according to the Press Trust of India.
It is not the first time India’s state carrier, which has not made a profit since 2007, has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
Last month, a London-bound flight with more than 200 passengers was forced to return to Mumbai after three hours in the air over a suspected rat sighting in the cabin.
A plane carrying 160 passengers was forced this month to return to Delhi almost 30 minutes into a Milan-bound flight after smoke was detected in the cabin.
* Agence France-Presse
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- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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