Ryanair forces boy with broken leg to stand all the way from Italy
21.04.07
A boy of 14 in a plaster cast from his ankle to his thigh was forced to stand for nearly two hours on a Ryanair flight from Italy, the Evening Standard newspaper reports. Adults travelling with the boy also claimed the budget airline's staff - including the captain of the flight - were 'rude and offensive'.
Tom Cannon could not bend his leg after damaging his knee during a football tournament in Milan, but Ryanair's cabin crew refused to give him an extra seat so he could sit down, even though there were spare seats on the flight.
One of the team organisers, Chris Hollands, said: 'Tom was in a significant amount of pain so we sat him in the first available seats on the plane, in the first row, whilst we herded the rest of the boys on to the aircraft. A stewardess said, 'He can't sit there. Move him now', without any further explanation. She did not speak directly to any particular person but shouted this as an order.'
'She was extremely rude. She said, 'If you wanted an extra seat, you should have paid for it.' It was astounding and I could not believe what I had heard. She was unsympathetic, arrogant, rude and unaccommodating, even after hearing the story of our plight.'
Matters got worse when the flight captain intervened. Mr Hollands said: 'I explained that I was trying to arrange for the boy to be as comfortable as possible, but he cut me off midsentence and told me to 'stop it' and to 'shut up'. He told me that if I did not stop I would be removed from the plane. I was flabbergasted.'
During take-off and landing, staff insisted Tom was strapped precariously upright with a seat-belt. He stood for the rest of the 1 hour 40 minute flight to Luton Airport, even though there were at least three or four spare places on the flight.
A spokesman for Ryanair told the newspaper: 'We apologise to Mr Cannon that our handling agents in Bergamo did not follow the correct procedure by advising our cabin crew in advance of his broken leg. However, we are pleased that our cabin crew were nonetheless able to provide him with special seating arrangements while on board and full assistance disembarking at Luton Airport.'
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