Theresa Purcell filed a lawsuit against American Airlines when she was denied use of a ramp for level entry boarding.
Gate personnel refused to provide a ramp to a woman affected by Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease during the woman’s attempt to board a recent American Airlines commuter flight. The woman eventually accessed the plane by crawling to her seat, according to a report by KHON 2 News, Honolulu, Hawaii.
According to the report, Purcell states that she made arrangements with the airline prior to the flight so the ramp would be available for her to use. When she arrived at the gate, according to Purcell, she was told by the agent it was “too late” for the ramp to be used. According to Purcell, the ramp was in close proximity to the plane.
Purcell is described as a hip hop artist who travels regularly by air to make performances, and routinely makes advance arrangements with airlines to have a ramp available.
After her attempts to convince gate personnel to reposition the ramp were unsuccessful, Purcell says she was left with no alternative to board the plane other than to crawl.
“I crawled up onto the steps. I crawled into the plane. There was no other way for me to get on the plane so I crawled up to the plane.” Purcell states in the news report. “I was humiliated. It was embarrassing to have 50-something people watch you crawl into a plane.”
Purcell’s attorney reportedly has leveled a lawsuit against the airline seeking $75,000 in damages.
American Airlines’ Debra Shaffer responded with this statement: “Thank you for your letter of demand on behalf of Theresa Purcell. American Airlines will not be issuing any compensation for your client’s injuries claim.”
[Source: KHON 2 News]
It probably took her longer to crawl up the steps etc than for the AA personnel to get the ramp in place. This against the ADA and she needs to pursue this issue with them and her attorney. I will never fly AA and tell all that this airline is not in compliance with people with disabilities.
Cathy–seems like there definitely should be some repercussions associated with the ADA guidelines. Unless there was some airline regulation regarding passenger arrival and boarding time that justified not using the ramp? If they let her crawl aboard the flight my guess would be that she’d arrived early enough for them to use the ramp. If American Airlines has a more substantive reason for their actions, this would be a good time for them to share it with the media.
It appears that Ms. Purcell made all appropriate advanced plans for the ramp. Why then was the airline not prepared to meet the needs of this lady? There are many with disabilities which we should and must assist each day. This is not only the law, this is called human kindness and compassion. Where have these two gone? How could not only the airline personnel but the fellow passengers stand by and allow Ms. Purcell to CRAWL up the steps and to her seat? Everyone witnessing this should hold themselves accountable for not demanding that the nearby ramp be moved. If the passengers had refused to board, the plane would not have moved. While I realize there may be more to the story than what is being told here, if this is the “whole truth”, then shame on American Airlines. Give Ms. Purcell the money, some free tickets, an open apology, and change your disability policy.
Carol, I agree there may be two sides to this story. However, you make an excellent point about the sad fact that no one–not a passenger or airline employee–made an effort to help her. What you said about “holding themselves accountable” is right on. Perhaps they all had their faces buried in their smart phones? Perhaps the airlines played hardball about allowing a passenger to de-plane beyond a certain time frame. If AA has a good defense it would behove them to make it public. Otherwise, yes, this is pretty tough to swallow. BTW, assuming they stay on course financially, airlines are expected to post extremely good profits this year. I have to wonder if there are any mobility device users among AA’s stockholders? Perhaps this would be an opportunity for them to speak up…
*sigh* Just when you think you can expect to see enough ramps scattered around so you can get places, something like this happens. They couldn’t take five minutes to move the ramp? Come on, this lady’s paying them a lot to fly on their airline; the least they could do is make sure she can actually get on the airline without having to crawl on the floor where everyone else has had their street shoes. They better apologize, and they better make sure they have ramps available in the future. That’s all.
Lisa, there may well be good explanation for this, but I cannot imagine what that might be. It seems American Airlines did issue an apology of sorts, but no compensation. All that money for the ramp, and the personnel, and the training, and no one would allow it to be used when it was needed. That’s a head scratcher.