Disabled passenger forced to crawl off United flight

A man with cerebral palsy says he was left to crawl off a United Airlines plane without assistance last week.

Passenger D’Arcee Neal waited for flight crews to bring him an aisle-sized chair to help him disembark after landing at Reagan National Airport Tuesday night.

Taking the matters in his own hands, the 29-years-old crawled down the aisle on all fours to get to his regular wheelchair that awaited him by the doorway. “No one should have to do what I did”.

Neal, 29, was returning from a speaking engagement about accessible transportation for people with disabilities at the time of the incident. But as the passengers got off the United Airlines plane, he was left waiting for an aisle chair and someone to come help him. We regret the delay in providing the aisle chair to assist Mr. Neal in exiting the aircraft, but we are pleased to hear that he is satisfied with our response to his concerns. While in San Francisco, he also had a meeting with the car-hire company Uber to discuss disabled accessibility policies.

CNN reported Sunday that D’Arcee Neal of Washington, D.C. returned home last week after a five-hour flight from San Francisco.

Meanwhile, United Airlines acknowledged its mistake and issued an apology statement – much to Neal’s surprise, who was not expecting anything at all.

Moreover, the airline reportedly suspended the manager on duty and offered Neal $300 in compensation, which he accepted. He says he never made a complaint and his story only drew attention because he posted on Facebook that he was happy the airline reached out to him. “It’s humiliating”, Neal said, who has Cerebral Palsy.

“This might be a good step to shed a few light on the problem”, he said, “and I hope to continue to advocate for this”.