[nfbwatlk] FW: [List] Deaf people band from taking flight

[Jedi]

I wonder if the blind would be at a greater risk because people would 
see us as having mobility problems. And what's the deal with what the 
spokeswoman said? They didn't discriminate against these deaf people 
because of their disability, but for security reasons? EPIC FAIL!

Respectfully,
Jedi

Original message:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: list-bounces at cfb.ca [mailto:list-bounces at cfb.ca] On Behalf Of
> Elizabeth Lalonde
> Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 1:11 PM
> To: list at cfb.ca
> Cc: Erin Ford; Stephanie Mündel-Möhr
> Subject: [List] Deaf people band from taking flight

> This kind of thing could easily happen to a group of blind people too.
> Terrible.
> -


> September 25, 2011

> Home > National

> Anger as deaf people banned from taking flight

> Published: 22 Sep 2011 10:44 GMT+1

> Updated: 25 Sep 2011 18:45 GMT+1





> A group of 22 holiday makers with hearing difficulties who were prevented
> from boarding an Air Miditerranie flight for "security reasons" will have
> their case reviewed by the state authority for defending human rights.





> The group, including 18 deaf people, three with hearing difficulties and one
> person without hearing problems, had already checked in their bags for the
> flight from Marseille to Bodrum in Turkey when they were told they would not
> be allowed to board.



> "Just as we were about to board, someone from the company told us we
> couldn't,"
> Fabienne Guiramand, the daughter of one of the women in the group, told AFP.



> "We tried to explain to the person who was liaising between us and the pilot
> that we were all perfectly self-reliant," said another passenger. "Apart
> from, perhaps, two people who can't speak, everyone was capable of talking
> and making themselves understood. Several were wearing hearing aids."



> The airline said on Wednesday that they "regretted" the incident but there
> were important security reasons.



> "In the procedures of Air Miditerranie, the deaf are considered persons of
> reduced mobility," said a spokeswoman, adding that in such a case the
> airline
> would normally assign a member of cabin crew for every five people.



> The company denied it had discriminated against the group, but admitted that
> it
> had made "communication errors" and that the pilot should have spoken
> directly
> to the group.



> "It was unfortunate on our part," said the spokeswoman. "They felt they were

> being excluded because of their disability when, in fact, it was just for
> security reasons."



> "There was no reason to stop them boarding," said Cidric Lorant, president
> of an
> association for the hard of hearing, Unisda (Union Nationale pour
> l'Insertion
> Sociale du Dificient Auditif).



> "These are people with hearing difficulties but they are able to understand
> security guidelines and travel autonomously," he told AFP.



> Solidarity minister Roselyne Bachelot took up the case on Wednesday,
> referring
> the matter to the state-appointed ombudsman for human rights, the Difenseur
> des
> droits.



> "On an airplane, a deaf person is in the same situation as someone who
> doesn't
> speak the language of the cabin crew," she said on Wednesday. "Should we
> only
> allow people who speak English or French to board?"



> The Difenseur des droits confirmed on Wednesday evening in a statement that
> they
> were examining the case and would "hold hearings if required."



> twitter.com/matthew_warren



> Matthew Warren (news at thelocal.fr)



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