A disabled BBC journalist was forced to crawl along the floor of an aircraft to reach the toilet during a flight from Warsaw on Monday (30 September). Frank Gardner shared a photo from the cabin floor to X/Twitter captioned: “Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as “we don’t have onboard wheelchairs .
It’s airline policy”. If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory.” In a follow-up comment, the veteran BBC security correspondent praised the “helpful” and “apologetic” cabin crew on the UK-bound flight but said he won’t be flying LOT again “until they join the 21st century”.
Gardner is a seasoned Middle East correspondent and author. In 2004, he became a wheelchair user after he was shot six times by Al-Qaeda operatives and partially paralysed while on assignment in Saudi Arabia. “Bit of a sore backside and my suit is not thrilled but hey,” Gardner replied to a concerned social media user in the X/Twitter thread.
The LOT website reads: “On all our long-haul flights (operated by Boeing 787s), we provide on-board wheelchairs to ensure that you can move around the cabin during your flight.” The Polish airline said in a statement: “We are deeply sorry for the distressing experience Mr Frank Gardner encountered on his recent flight with us. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and discomfort caused by the lac.
