Disabled BBC journalist Frank Gardner forced to crawl to toilet on flight from Warsaw

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 lack of an onboard wheelchair.

“Currently, onboard wheelchairs are available on our Dreamliner aircraft. However, due to limited space, our short-haul fleet does not yet have this facility. We understand the importance of accessibility and are actively testing solutions to equip our short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs in the near future.”

LOT added that they are “committed to improving our services to ensure all passengers have a comfortable and dignified travel experience”.

It’s not the first time the BBC journalist has encountered accessibility issues while flying.

In July 2022, Gardner slammed airline Iberia and UK airports after saying he was left “stuck on the plane at Gatwick” following a flight home .

On his return from covering the Nato summit in Madrid, Gardner said that he had waited for 20 minutes for assistance disembarking the plane.

Iberia denied that Gardner was left alone after passengers had disembarked. A spokesperson for the carrier said: “At every moment, the established procedure was followed so that, on arrival at his destination, he was provided with the assistance service for our customers with reduced mobility.”

James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Frank Gardner is being regularly let down at UK airports, and he’s a seasoned journalist and traveller with a significant profile and platform.”

Taylor added: “This has been going on too long. The impact is often degrading, stressful and anxiety-inducing and stops some disabled people from travelling altogether. It’s time that the regulations had teeth and are backed up by fines and penalties.”

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