Posted on 08/14/2004 1:30:18 PM PDT by Stoat
A British woman born without arms or legs is suing Air France, claiming she was told she could not fly because she has no limbs. Adele Price, 42, claims an Air France employee in Manchester told her "one head, one bottom and a torso cannot possibly fly on its own".
Ms Price, from Mansfield, Notts, is suing the airline in a New York court and is seeking unspecified damages.
Air France was not available for comment on Saturday morning.
Ms Price was born without limbs because her mother took the drug thalidomide during pregnancy.
She said in her legal action she is able to control her wheelchair and has travelled by air on many occasions.
Her legal action claims she bought a ticket in 2000 to fly from Manchester to New York.
After she had checked in her luggage, she alleges the gate employee prevented her from boarding the plane.
She says she was allowed on another flight, but only after she paid for a companion to fly with her.
Ms Price claims she suffered emotional and psychological damage because of the incident.
All jokes aside the Frof are a Compassionate people : Arent they?
frof=frogs
A gal with no arms standing in a doorway: Eileen.
From an earlier thread --
What do you call a woman w/o arms and legs who's refused a plane flight?
Sue.
She was in negotiations with a law firm that represents wooden-legged litigants, but they broke it off.
That's good! Heh...
I missed the earlier thread!
I think it was not banned until the early 1960's.
This reads like a Monty Python skit.
§ 382.31 Refusal of transportation.
(a) Unless specifically permitted by a provision of this part, a carrier shall not refuse to provide transportation to a qualified individual with a disability on the basis of his or her disability.
(b) A carrier shall not refuse to provide transportation to a qualified individual with a disability solely because the persons disability results in appearance or involuntary behavior that may offend, annoy, or inconvenience crewmembers or other passengers.
(c) A carrier shall not refuse to provide transportation to qualified individuals with a disability by limiting the number of such persons who are permitted to travel on a given flight.
(d) Carrier personnel, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 44902, 14 CFR 91.8, or 14 CFR 121.533, may refuse to provide transportation to any passenger on the basis of safety, and may refuse to provide transportation to any passenger whose carriage would violate the Federal Aviation Regulations. In exercising this authority, carrier personnel shall not discriminate against any qualified individual with a disability on the basis of disability and their actions shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Part. In the event that such action is inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, the carrier shall be subject to remedies provided under § 382.65.
(e) When a carrier refuses to provide transportation to any person on a basis relating to the individuals disability, the carrier shall specify in writing to the person the basis for the refusal, including, where applicable, the reasonable and specific basis for the carriers opinion that transporting the person would or might be inimical to the safety of the flight. This written explanation shall be provided within 10 calendar days of the refusal of transportation.
If Air France is found to be in violation of the law and they fail to remedy the situation, their common carrier status should be revoked.
Bob.
... but: they lied. They LIED!
I think the following is the original "What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs" joke.
What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs in the swimming pool? Bob
then there's-- What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs playing baseball? Third Base
the ban was being put into effect in various countries in the 1961-62 time frame. Different countries banned it at different times. It appears that Great Britain banned it sometime in 1962 but I didn't see an exact date given.
Jack.
>>>claims an Air France employee in Manchester told her "one head, one bottom and a torso cannot possibly fly on its own".
>>>She says she was allowed on another flight, but only after she paid for a companion to fly with her.
From this article, Air France is stating she can't fly without a companion. Meaning ASSISTANCE.
Not that I am willingly defending anything 'france'. But, Air France or any establishment have the right to require the disabled to come with their own assistance.
That clause could be their claim. She is incapable of evecuating herself from the aircraft and her wheelchair could block the evacuation of other people.
"disarming"
No pun intended right :))
"She said in her legal action she is able to control her wheelchair and has travelled by air on many occasions. "
If she has flown before without limbs then she may very well have a case. It's tragic enough to go through life like this and then to have someone come along and deny her this is pretty sad.
It's sad enough that this woman is without limbs through not fault of her own. Maybe we should lay off the jokes about her disability.
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