A wheelchair user who crawled down metal steps from a plane when no-one could help him disembark has described the incident as “unacceptable”.
Adrian Keogh, from Wicklow in Ireland, was told assistance would take an hour after his flight landed at Landvetter Airport in Sweden on Saturday.
Mr Keogh said cabin crew on the Ryanair flight told him he could crawl from the aircraft instead of waiting.
Ryanair has said its crew did not tell him to crawl from the aircraft.
Landvetter airport has apologised.
Mr Keogh, who has a spinal injury following a construction accident, told BBC News NI he was not able to wait for an hour for assistance disembarking the plane as he was in pain after the flight and needed to use the bathroom.
He was travelling with his brother who offered to carry him down the stairs but Mr Keogh declined as he felt that would be too dangerous.
“They were steep, corrugated steel steps,” he said.
“If he fell we would have both been hurt so I had to bunny-hop down myself.”
A wheelchair user since 2015, Mr Keogh said air travel could sometimes be frustrating.
“This is not the first time I’ve been stuck on a plane after everyone else has disembarked,” he said.
“It’s unacceptable – all I ask for is to be able to travel with dignity.”
James Taylor of disability equality charity Scope described the incident as appalling.
“For a long time we’ve been concerned about disabled people being failed by airlines and airports,” he said.
“The impact is often degrading, stressful and anxiety-inducing and stops some disabled people from travelling altogether.”
‘Several unforeseen events’
Landvetter Airport apologised and said it “deeply regrets” Mr Keogh’s experience, blaming “several unforeseen events” for the delay in assistance.
A spokesperson told BBC News NI the long waiting time was “not up to our usual standard of service”.
Ryanair said special assistance at the airport was provided by a third-party service provider.
The airline said it was looking into the incident.
Source : BBC
