A disabled woman had to endure a horrific experience when she was forced to crawl off a plane because the crew refused to let her use a wheelchair for free.
Natalie Curtis, from Queensland, Australia, was flying on the low-cost airline Jetstar from Townsville to Bangkok with a stop in Singapore when the incident occurred last week.?
Natalie?said she was offered a standard "aisle"?wheelchair to board her flight in Singapore, but when she arrived in Thailand she was told to pay in order to use another chair to get off the plane.??
She says she felt this was unjust. "I didn¡¯t really comprehend it and I was like, ¡®No, I¡¯m not paying to be able to get off this plane¡¯," she was quoted as saying.
Natalia says she had no option but to get on the ground and drag herself along the plane aisle to the front, where she could reach her own wheelchair.
She explained that she had never been asked to pay on any previous journeys.
Natalie¡¯s friend Natasha Elford, who filmed the incident, confirmed that staff did offer to carry her to the door. Natasha said she could not carry her friend off the aircraft because she had a knee injury.
Natalie also admitted that the language barrier may have contributed to the staff¡¯s understanding of the issue.
However, she said there was no excuse for the?crew to not help her.
Airline workers were apparently informed that an aisle?wheelchair?was unavailable for at least 40 minutes after the plane arrived in Bangkok.
Jetstar has since apologised to Natalia and denied that the aisle chair was withheld until payment was made.
"We unreservedly apologize to Ms. Curtis for her recent experience while traveling with us.?We are committed to providing a safe and comfortable travel experience for all our customers, including those requiring specific assistance, Jetstar said in a statement.
"Regrettably, this was not the case for Ms. Curtis following a miscommunication that resulted in the delay of an aisle chair being made available at the gate on arrival, and we are looking into what happened as a matter of urgency," they added.?
The airline has since provided Natalie with a full refund and other compensation, but she vowed to never fly with the company again.?
After such a horrible experience, who can blame her?
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