An Irish wheelchair user has been left frustrated after they were forced to crawl off a flight despite having requested special assistance
Adrian Keogh, a resident of Rathdangan in Wicklow, was on his way to Landvetter Airport in Göteborg, Sweden from Dublin on Saturday evening to celebrate his daughter's 14th birthday.
However, upon arrival at the airport, the 37-year-old was informed by the staff that it would take at least an hour before they could arrange assistance to help him exit the aircraft, but as Adrian urgently needed to use the restroom, he was left with no other option but to "bum shuffle" off the plane.
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The Wicklow man initially brought attention to the incident via a lengthy post on Instagram, where he explained, alongside a picture of himself crawling along the steps to disembark the flight, that no lift was available for him when the flight landed despite having requested special assistance.
“Please excuse the bad picture but this is a photo of myself having to crawl off a Ryanair flight which landed at Landvetter airport tonight at 11pm,” the Instagram post said.
“I am, as some may know, a full-time wheelchair user.
“It's unacceptable to expect me to crawl down the steep metal steps but on arrival, I was informed that it would be at least one hour before they would have the lift available to help me off the plane so what option had I but to crawl off the plane.”
Following the incident, Adrian explained to the Irish Mirror his frustration at the situation, as he had to resort to disembarking from the plane without the assistance he had requested.
“We landed in Gothenburg around 11pm. Eight of us travelled, seven other family members and me, but my brother stayed with me, just to give me a hand getting off the plane and bring my suitcases and stuff and my cushion that I need for the wheelchair that’s under with the cargo.
“When he got off one of the stewards came to the back of the plane, there was an older woman there as well who needed assistance getting on and off the plane, so she is telling her ‘The wheelchair won’t be here for an hour’ and I thought, ‘that’s not right’.
“Then she came up to me and said: ‘we won’t be able to lift you off for at least an hour’."
He then explained how he asked the steward if he could crawl off as he needed to use the bathroom and “was not going to sit there for an hour.”
“I crawled down the back of the plane and then I sat on the floor of the plane and moved out onto the steps of the plane, bum shuffled across. I had to be careful because it’s corrugated steel or aluminium or something and I didn’t want to mark my skin.
“I’m paralysed so my skin wouldn’t be as good, it cuts so you have to be careful.
“My brother wanted to lift me down the steps but the steps are steep enough so if he fell, I was falling. It wasn’t safe.
“We were left with those two options, so I bum-shuffled down the steps. Then when I got to the end, the steward was at the bottom.
“I didn’t want to have a row with that woman because I needed to go to the toilet. My own wheelchair was underneath the plane, it was left out.
“My brother got it and brought it over to the steps when I was getting off and he was holding onto the cushion. I put the cushion on to my wheelchair and went straight in then.”
In a statement sent to the Irish Mirror, Göteborg Landvetter Airport explained that due to “several unforeseen events” assistance at the airport was affected.
The statement said: “We deeply regret Mr Keogh’s experience at Göteborg Landvetter Airport on Saturday.
“Due to several unforeseen events, the assistance service at the airport was affected with longer waiting times and not up to our usual standard of service, although airport procedures were followed.
“As a consequence, the assistance service was delayed however by no means ‘forgotten’. Again we are very sorry for Mr Keogh’s inconvenience.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Special assistance at Landvetter Airport is managed by a third-party provider - not Ryanair.
"We regret that Landvetter Airport failed to provide Special Assistance to this passenger upon arrival at Landvetter on April 29 and we are working with Landvetter Airport to ensure this does not recur."
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