Woman with Cancer Deboarded from Flight After Being Denied Help with her Luggage
World Cancer Day was just celebrated a couple of days ago on February 4. The theme for the year, 'Close the care gap', was about understanding the inequalities in cancer care and finding solutions to combat them.
However, an incident a few days before World Cancer Day was completely against the theme of 'care.' A female cancer patient was deboarded from her flight after having asked for help with her luggage on January 30.
The inhumane incident happened on an American Airlines flight at the Delhi Airport. The passenger Meenakshi Sengupta was on her way to New York. She had recently undergone surgery that had weakened her limbs and left her in a brace.
Therefore, Sengupta needed help with her handbag to be kept in the overhead cabin. However, when asked for help by the flight attendant, she was not assisted and was told to deboard the flight.
Meenakshi Sengupta filed a complaint to the Delhi Police and Civil Air. She explained that she had even required wheelchair assistance till the flight. She was happy with the ground staff helping her get onto the flight. After getting on the flight, she explained to the air hostess about her physical condition. However, none of the air hostesses told her to keep her handbag in the overhead cabin.
Meenakshi Sengupta was instructed to keep the handbag in the overhead cabin after the lights had dimmed for the flight to take off. However, she was denied help by the air hostess claiming it was not her job. She was also 'rude' and 'arrogant' with her approach.
Sengupta did not even receive any help from the entire cabin crew. She was then given an ultimatum to deboard the flight if she was uncomfortable.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) has asked American Airlines for a report. American Airlines said that they have reached out to Sengupta to refund her flight ticket fees. They added that a probe into the matter is underway.
(Input from various media sources)