Specially-Abled Child Denied To Board Flight At Ranchi Airport; IndiGo Airlines Issues Statement

New Delhi: After facing severe criticism from people on the internet for denying boarding to an adolescent with special needs at Jharkhand’s Rachi airport, IndiGo Airlines has issued a statement in this regard.

According to reports, airline staff did not allow the travel saying the child’s behavior was not normal. The video of the alleged incident is now doing rounds on social media.

Reportedly, the child was crying due to hunger, thirst, anxiety, and confusion as he had a very uncomfortable car ride to the airport. However, the IndiGo manager did not allow the specially-abled child to board a flight from Ranchi airport claiming the child was in a ‘state of panic’. The airline issued a statement after the incident came to light.

According to Abhinandan Mishra, a witness to the incident, stated that the child had an uncomfortable car ride to the airport and was visibly stressed on arrival at the boarding gate. His parents, however, brought the situation under control with some food and love. But at the time of boarding, IndiGo manager warned the family that the child would not be allowed to board the plane unless he acted ‘normally’.

Yesterday an @IndiGo6E staff at Ranchi Airport did this. Shame on you @IndiGo6E.@JM_Scindia @DGCAIndia @PMOIndia
Please take strictest possible action.#specialneedchild #divyang pic.twitter.com/LpvSnXB8jg

— Abhinandan Mishra (@mishra_abhi) May 8, 2022

The manager did not stop there. He reportedly announced that the specially-abled child is a flight risk and compared the condition (teenage assertiveness) to that of drunken passengers and deemed the child un-fit for travel. The same situation prevailed even after co-passengers opposed the staff’s move.

According to co-passengers, there were doctors taking the same flight and they assured them of support. But eventually, the flight departed to Hyderabad, leaving the three behind.

Here is the video of the incident that happened at Ranchi airport where @IndiGo6E airlines denies boarding to a special need child along with his child.
Seems lack of empathy from Indigo staff, not the first time though.
Indigo to issue a statement shortly. @JM_Scindia https://t.co/5ixUDZ009a pic.twitter.com/SyTNgAQIT6

— Dibyendu Mondal (@dibyendumondal) May 8, 2022

When the issue gained traction on Twitter, IndiGo issued a statement claiming the specially-abled child could not have boarded the flight in ‘a state of panic’.

“The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute, but to no avail. The airline made the family comfortable by providing them hotel stay and the family flew next morning to their destination. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers,” the statement read.