Travelling can be a hassle when the staff of the flight or the place you’re staying at is unhelpful. It is all the more so when you’re differently-abled and cannot do things in the same way as others can. In a shocking and sad turn of events that demonstrates the predicament of how woefully inadequate services are for people with disabilities, a blind woman was left on a flight, helpless. Vistara, the airline responsible, received a lot of flak for it.
Vistara Receives Flak For Leaving A Blind Passenger
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In a video that has now gone viral, a Glasgow-based Indian fashion designer, Ayush Kejriwal, shared a frightening experience that his blind mother recently went through. She was travelling on flight UK-747 which was headed to Kolkata from Delhi.
In the video, Kejriwal mentioned that they had specifically opted for the assisted travel plan which means that she would be constantly tended to and helped whenever she required it. Far from it being the case, she was actually left alone in the plane even after other passengers had gotten off.
At first, the lady did not realise it, however, when the cleaning crew started cleaning the plane, she realised something was off. The plane was supposed to head to the Andaman Islands after Kolkata and she would’ve been in trouble if she hadn’t raised an alarm in time.
Airline Responds To The Situation
Realising that the cleaning crew had arrived, she raised an alarm and told them that she was supposed to get off the plane in Kolkata. It was then that she got off the plane. The designer also stated that when they first contacted Vistara regarding the incident, they were unresponsive.
However, after the video went viral, the airline reached out to Kejriwal and apologised for the incident. They asked for the passenger’s booking details to look into the matter further. The airline received a lot of criticism in the comments as many people chided them for such callous behaviour.
Also Read: 2-YO Baby On Vistara Flight Who Was Resuscitated By AIIMS Docs Passes Away Due To Cardiac Arrest
Do you know any differently-abled people? How do they manage to travel? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons