I have received information about yet another scandalous incident today at “Vasil Levski” Airport – Sofia. A Bulgarian family with a nine-year-old child with reduced mobility had chosen to travel to Toulouse via Bergamo on a Ryanair flight. The family boarded the aircraft but was then removed on the orders of the pilot, on the grounds that the child’s wheelchair did not meet safety standards due to its battery.
As a father, I am deeply shocked by the inhumane conduct of the pilot towards the child. As the commander of the flight, he has the right to request the removal of a passenger and their wheelchair if they could pose a threat to the flight. He personally recorded in the protocol that the battery terminals “cannot be isolated”. The facts known so far, however, indicate otherwise – the wheelchair bears a factory label certifying that it is suitable for air transport, and according to the parents, the child has flown with it on numerous occasions. Moreover, even a cursory check of its technical specifications and Ryanair’s general terms and conditions shows that it complies with the carrier’s requirements.
Thanks to the management of “Vasil Levski” Airport – Sofia, the family will nonetheless fly this evening, and free of charge, to Toulouse via Munich. Lufthansa, too, has accepted the wheelchair, meaning it is fit to be carried on an aircraft. Of course, there must be no compromise with flight safety! However, I am increasingly doubtful whether the battery was truly dangerous to the flight. I have therefore instructed the Civil Aviation Administration to investigate the incident, including by contacting the family, in order to establish the truth. Should it be determined that the pilot’s judgement was incorrect, I will forward all collected materials to the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination.