Para-athlete offloaded from Hyderabad-bound flight

Tirupati: Para-athlete Madhu Bagri, a wheelchair tennis player, was offloaded from Hyderabad-bound SpiceJet flight at Tirupati Airport on Monday, over an alleged tussle over a seat. In a video posted in social media, the athlete alleged that the airline staff insulted her by asking her to crawl, walk or do anything to reach her seat in Tirupati-Hyderabad flight.

As the passage in the aircraft was so narrow the aisle wheelchair could not move inside to reach her seat. When she asked the flight attendants, they denied help. Instead, they pulled and pushed the wheelchair before offloading her to the arrivals lounge, the athlete claimed in the video.

She pleaded with the aircraft staff that she must reach Hyderabad to catch a connecting flight to Ahmedabad, but in vain. Meanwhile, the SpiceJet management denied the allegation of Madhu Bagri, saying that she was provided assistance. “She was allotted a third row seat. But, she insisted on front row seat.

The front row on Q400 Bombardier is emergency exit row and passengers with any kind of disability are not allowed to sit on these seats as per DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) rules,” they clarified in the statement.

“Even after explaining it repeatedly, she insisted for the front row seat. As the flight was getting delayed, a collective decision was taken to offload the passenger,” they said.