<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" class="sHeadline" style="margin-bottom: 10px; width: 320px; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(188, 188, 188); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(188, 188, 188); padding: 6px 0px 3px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td valign="center" class="shCenter" style="padding: 0px 8px 1px; font-weight: bold; "><font face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.234375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.234375); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Blind Man's Guide Dog Gets Him Booted Off Flight</span></font></td><td align="right" class="shNext" valign="center" style="width: 41px; text-align: right; "><font color="#000000" face="Helvetica"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.300781); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.234375); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.234375); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></font><br></td></tr></tbody></table><div id="storyHeader" style="padding: 8px 0px 5px; "><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" class="t_bylinedate" style="padding: 0px 8px; width: 304px; "><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="story_byline" style="padding-right: 5px; width: 147px; "></td><td align="center" valign="center" class="storyHeaderDate" style="border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(188, 188, 188); padding: 4px 0px 4px 5px; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">A blind man was kicked off a U.S. Airways</span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/business/airlines/airline-industry.htm" style="text-decoration: none; ">flight</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">Wednesday evening after a squabble with a flight attendant over restraining his guide dog. The airline's action so</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> infuriated the</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "> 35 or so other passengers that the flight had to be canceled.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="storyBody" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 8px; "><div class="sBody"><p><div class="storyBody" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 8px; "><div class="sBody"><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Forty-nine-year-old Albert Rizzi, who told <a href="http://ABCNews.com">ABCNews.com</a> that he flies every month and can't travel without his guide dog, said this is the second time in six months that he's had a problem on a U.S. Airways flight.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The flight attendant wanted me to put my dog under the seat, and I did the best I could. A passenger even sat Indian style to make room for my dog Doxy," he said.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During the fracas, Rizzi said his fellow passengers "raised a ruckus" to express their displeasure with the way the flight attendant had treated him.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After he was escorted off the plane, Rizzi said he was "livid," standing in the Philadelphia terminal alone waiting for his bag, which had been checked, not knowing how he would make it home to New York's Long Island. Shortly after, the other passengers marched into the terminal to join Rizzi in a show of support.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I felt validated. We had made a statement together," Rizzi said.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Bellport, N.Y., resident said he felt humbled by the actions of his new friends, who all boarded a bus together, chartered by U.S. Airways, to take them on a four-hour ride to their final destination, Long Island's MacArthur Airport.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The bus arrived at the Long Island airport at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, more than five hours after the flight's scheduled arrival time.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. Airways spokesperson Liz Landau told <a href="http://ABCNews.com">ABCNews.com</a> that Rizzi's service animal was moving around and couldn't be controlled.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"When the flight attendant reminded the passenger that the animal needed to be seated in one specific place to ensure the safety of the flight, he became disruptive," she said.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Passenger Kurt Budke, who drove Rizzi home once they arrived in Long Island, told a different story.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The training of the dog was amazing. To say this dog couldn't be controlled is false. This dog was more controlled than the people onboard," he said.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Budke said Rizzi's dog stretched at one point, but wasn't moving around and stayed at Rizzi's feet, which is the required location for service dogs while in flight.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. Airways said flight attendants are trained to handle customers with disabilities, and the airline does everything it can to ensure all passengers are treated with dignity and respect.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rizzi, who has been legally blind for eight years, says the U.S. Airways employees on the ground in Philadelphia showed him great respect, he just wishes the flight attendant could have been more understanding.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I want to educate U.S. Airways on how their staff can better support blind passengers. That dog has to be with me. It's as if you were asking someone with a prosthetic or a wheelchair to leave that at the door," said Rizzi.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=20889570">http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=20889570</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: '.HelveticaNeueUI'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><br></span></p></div></div></p></div></div></body></html>