- Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island is a quadriplegic and travels in a power wheelchair.
- Final thirty day period, he was repeatedly instructed by airline staff that his wheelchair was unsafe for transportation, for every The Washington Post.
- The FAA and international laws have exceptions for batteries in wheelchairs.
Rep. Jim Langevin was barred from boarding a flight twice in a yr mainly because airline workers believed that the lithium-ion batteries in his wheelchair had been unsafe for boarding, according to The Washington Article.
Final thirty day period, when the congressman from Rhode Island, who is also a quadriplegic, planned to consider a trip to Italy to go to armed service bases, Lufthansa airline staff members at the Boston Logan Global Airport stopped Langevin from passing the verify-in counter and instructed him that the battery in his wheelchair could overheat and catch on hearth, The Post reported.
This was in spite of the Office of Protection contacting in advance of time to make absolutely sure his ability wheelchair was permitted on the flight and having a letter from the maker that stated the wheelchair fulfilled federal and international regulations.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Global Air Transport Association have exceptions for batteries in wheelchairs.
The congressman also put the wheelchair’s inventor on the cellphone to demonstrate that his chair was risk-free, The Submit noted. Langevin was nevertheless not allowed to fly and experienced to book a new flight following a staff member brought an older wheelchair from residence.
“I made the decision to share my disheartening travel encounters in hopes of boosting recognition about an issue that is affecting plenty of airline passengers with disabilities across the state,” Langevin explained in an electronic mail to Insider. “It’s flat out completely wrong for airline employees to avoid people with disabilities from traveling with FAA-compliant mobility equipment.”
A spokesperson for Lufthansa airways advised The Put up that the company was “regretful” for the mistake and that there was a “misinterpretation of the technological rules.”
“At instances, there have been worries when it will come to clients traveling with lithium batteries, as there are intricate and thorough policies and rules connected to this,” the spokesperson wrote to The Write-up.
A spokesperson from Lufthansa did not instantly respond to a request for comment from Insider.
“Shifting ahead, airways need to do a better job of knowledge the FAA suggestions for lithium-ion battery-run wheelchairs. If they go on to discriminate in opposition to travellers with disabilities, airways must count on to be held accountable,” Langevin wrote, also mentioning how he introduced the Air Provider Obtain Amendments Act in 2019 to fortify protections for flyers with disabilities.
The congressman is between many travellers with disabilities who have not too long ago expert snags at airports, from broken wheelchairs to stories of abandoned flyers by personnel customers.
According to a July report from the Office of Transportation, US airlines saw a 108% raise in issues from flyers with disabilities, from 76 in Could 2019 to 158 in the very same thirty day period this calendar year.