[Nfbmo] Blind woman removed from Springfield flight

[Gary Wunder]

I do not know Laurie, but I do know Megan O'Rourke. She had her cane taken
from her on August 8 while traveling to Springfield. The airline has now
confirmed for her that this was against regulations, but when you are
actually in the situation, there is no question that the captain and the
flight crew are the people in charge. The airline is now offering Megan a
free flight and an apology, but what is needed is a more systemic approach
to addressing the problem. If there is a way for us to contact Laurie, we
should do so and try to get her side of this.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Horchem Gary
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 7:26 AM
To: nfbmo at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfbmo] Blind woman removed from Springfield flight

October 01, 2012|by Linda Russell, lrussell at ky3.comSPRINGFIELD, Mo.-- A West
Plains woman says she was wrongly and rudely de-planed from a flight
departing from Springfield.  Laurie Reeves Goss is still shocked she was
removed by Allegiant.  She thought it was a misunderstanding about her
disability, but an Allegiant report gives a completely different reason.She
was California bound for her daughter's birthday. "And see my grandchildren,
which I hadn't got to see in two years it took me to save up for this trip,"
Laurie says. But Laurie can't actually "see" her grandchildren.   "They
said, when people are talking to you, look toward their voice," Laurie says.
It's how she was trained after going blind. Using her cane, just as she has
for more than 15 years, and boarding the Allegiant flight to Los Angeles,
Laurie asked a flight attendant to guide her to the restroom.  "She said,
you need to put that away!  And I said, I will after I am seated, but I'm
going to the bathroom and I've got to get back to my seat," Laurie
says.Laurie says she also questioned a flight attendant about her window
seat, and then asked a fellow passenger if she'd like to trade.  "I said,
I'm impaired visually, and it's a waste of a view," says Laurie.Laurie says
they traded seats and settled in, and that's when a crew member approached.
"Miss Reeves, do you have your cane?  And I said, yes, I do.  It's right
here in my sheath.  And he says, can you unbuckle your seat belt and come
with me?" Laurie says.To her surprise, Laurie says she was led off the plane
and placed in a wheel chair.  Laurie says she was told the crew felt she was
a threat to others, but she wasn't told why."I was in shock.  I was scared,
and I was devastated.  I didn't want to be in a wheel chair, because it was
demeaning to me to begin with," says Laurie.Laurie says she was pushed
outside to wait two hours for her ride back home. Allegiant filed a report
about the incident.AdvertisementJessica Wheeler, an Allegiant spokesperson,
says "The passenger was being disruptive to the other passengers around her,
and unfortunately, I do not have specific details about exactly what
disruptive means.""I didn't understand what the heck I done wrong.  I never
raised my voice.  I never cursed," Laurie says."When flight attendants tried
to address her, she appeared extremely intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.
She was combative to the flight attendants, and it was at that point that
the flight attendants made the judgement call to remove her from the
flight," Wheeler says.Laurie says she bought two drinks at the airport bar
during her two hour wait, but claims she was never combative or drunk.  "I'm
imbalanced, because I have one eye worse than the other.  I did not feel
intoxicated at all," says Laurie."Obviously, this is a judgement call.  Our
in flight crew is trained to make these calls," says Wheeler.Though she's
flown blind for years, being kicked off the plane has left Laurie shocked
and feeling mistreated.  "I'm scared to get on a plane again by myself,"
Laurie says.Allegiant says their flight crews make decisions as a team, and
passenger and crew safety are their biggest concerns.  The airline has
refunded Laurie's money, but she says that's not enough for what she was put
through.Watch the video interview:
http://www.ky3.com/videogallery/72654535/News/Blind-woman-kicked-off-plane
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