Differently-abled teacher deplaned at IGI airport

Aney Mathew’s friend Col Karminder Singh (retd) had booked his tickets two days ago. Singh, who heads the Society for Welfare of the Handicapped, which oversees the functioning of the school in Patiala, said he had spoken to IndiGo officials before booking the tickets about Aney flying unattended.

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“Indigo agreed to attend to Aney and help him board the flight. His wife would receive him at Thiruvananthapuram once the flight landed. An attendant travelled with Aney on a night bus and dropped him at the IGI Airport around 7 am on Wednesday. We had printed two placards, one in English and the other in Hindi, explaining Aney Mathew is afflicted by multiple sensory impairment with my phone number as an emergency contact. The IndiGo officials took him in their care from there. However, a few hours later, Aney’s wife Lija called me and told me that Aney had been deplaned. I got extremely worried and called IndiGo. An official told me that I should pick him up from the airport. Aney had been deboarded because there was no male attendant with him and all the crew on the flight were female. They would not be able to assist him to the bathroom. I clarified that Aney needed no assistance to the bathroom. I refused to take Aney back because this goes against the fundamental rights of a man,” Singh said.

“After a while I was informed that he was booked for the next flight to Bangalore,” Singh added. Later Aney safely reached home after landing at Thiruvananthapuram around 9.30 pm, Singh said.

Meanwhile, IndiGo sources said a combination of visual impairment and hearing impaired requires an escort to travel with the passenger. An escort has to assist such a passenger during emergency evacuation. This is also an international airline practice, they said.

The IndiGo airport team learnt of the combination of both disabilities only after he boarded the flight and while the emergency evacuation procedure was being explained to all passengers, they clarified.

“When asked for an escort, there wasn’t anyone available. Thus the Captain authorised the deboarding of the passenger and instructed that he be accommodated on the next IndiGo flight after consulting with his family. The IndiGo team learned from Aney’s wife that he can read Braille. He was put on the next flight to Thiruvananthapuram, escorted by a fellow passenger,” an IndiGo official said.