[nabs-l] Fwd: [Members] Airline apologizes for forgetting blind teen

[Briley Pollard]

My fear is also that because of this, the next time I fly, I'm going to be harassed more than I already am. I'm a 23 year old woman, and I appreciate one or two offers of help to find my gate or my seat, but grabbing my arm and insisting that your job is to help me because I'm blind and must not know where I'm going, (yes this has happened quite a few times), is ridiculous. This kind of story is going to perpetuate the image that blind people are helpless and can't even get off of a plane by themselves. It is frustrating to me. I don't know this girl personally, so nothing of what I say is meant to be taken that way. But I'd be really embarrassed if this story was published about me.

Briley
On May 15, 2010, at 8:17 PM, Harry Hogue wrote:

> This is ridiculous.  At least be proactive in mentioning your needs, even if
> you are not comfortable with traveling off the plane yourself.  And of
> course, if you make headlines, naturally the airline will apologize; they do
> not want the adverse publicity resulting from not apologizing, etc.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Sarah Alawami
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 6:19 PM
> To: nabs list list
> Subject: [nabs-l] Fwd: [Members] Airline apologizes for forgetting blind
> teen
> 
> I think she should have gotten off the plain by her self. How hard can that
> be? just  get off and turn right and go up the ramp thing and turn left and
> get out and then wait for your escort. but here's the story.
> 
> Airline apologizes for forgetting blind teen
> 
> Edmonton Journal , May 15, 2010
> 
> United Airlines has apologized to a blind woman from Vancouver Island who
> was abandoned on an empty plane in Chicago.
> 
> Jessica Cabot of Courtenay, B.C., made headlines this week after she went
> public about being forgotten in an empty United Airlines plane on an April 7
> stopover in Chicago.
> 
> The 18-year-old was waiting for flight attendants to escort her to a
> connecting flight to Florida when she heard the plane door seal shut. Ten
> minutes later two maintenance staff happened to find her on an unscheduled
> check of the plane.
> 
> She panicked in the plane, calling for help.
> 
> After a series of complaints, Cabot received a $250 airline voucher and the
> promise of an apology. Five weeks after her flight and a series of news
> stories later, she finally got one.
> 
> "They just called," said Cabot, on the phone from Jacksonville, Fla., where
> she is visiting her fiance. "I can't even count how many times they said
> sorry."
> 
> 
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