Sunday, February 19, 2012

SpiceJet offloads disabled passenger

Kolkata: In yet another instance of discrimination against disabled people, a woman was today offloaded from a SpiceJet flight from Kolkata to Goa.

Jeeja Ghosh, a teacher at Kolkata's Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy and a frequent flier across the country and abroad, was offloaded because the pilot felt she was not fit to fly. She has travelled alone in the past, but the pilot did not allow her to do it this time.

The 42-year-old Jeeja Ghosh, who has lived independently in the UK as a student, is outraged at the incident.

Speaking to NDTV, Ms Ghosh said that such people "do not deserve to hold the job". She demanded that a show-cause notice be issued against such people.

Ms Ghosh said that other passengers "tried to convince the pilot to let me fly, but he was adamant".

Demanding action against the pilot, she has filed a complaint saying today's experience was not just humiliation for her but the entire community across the country of people with disabilities who are however completely able to travel by themselves.

The airline later issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience caused to the passenger. The airline expressed regret for the incident, and said that the matter will be investigated and action taken.

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