Boy with Tourette’s denied boarding after bomb remark

[TamanTun]

I was just thinking about the news article about the 13 year old boy who was denied boarding after shouted ‘bomb’ at the gate. His parents had warned the airline in advance, he had his diagnosis letter on him and was wearing a sunflower lanyard. Imagine a world where others would understand and be supportive in a case like this rather than what happened. The family had done everything they could to avoid something like this but yet it did happen. Why can we all not be more accepting? I suppose it comes with educating others and does depend on the situation.

Also on the plane could be people with GAD or severe phobias or ESL who can understand bomb but not a long announcement or young children who will be distressed or people with CPTSD or veterans or any number of people with needs too.

Planes aren't 1 person with needs and 199 without.

I deal everyday with people with competing needs. And announcing people's disabilities to all and sundry is also an issue. Also discriminatory. It's a child's medical information FFS.

A child or indeed anyone tic’ing with Tourette’s is fairly self announcing.

those people you mentioned aren’t removed from flights because of their issue/disability are they ?

Ds is autistic and if he started having a massive meltdown before boarding or even before take off then yes I would expect to have to remove it. It’s one of the reasons we have chosen not to fly!

I think it’s fairly self explanatory and that he and his family would have probably preferred this than being denied access to their holiday. I wonder if anyone thought to check or they just had the ‘can’t be arsed to deal with this mentality.’

Im sure the plane was full of people with differing needs but being part of an inclusive society means making reasonable adjustments so that nobody has to miss out like this. The child was no threat to anyone but he has lost out on a holiday because of something out of his control. It’s really unfair and I feel for him and his family who probably have to deal with stress and prejudice everyday.

That's why they deny boarding to drunks often.

Nope. One person's "rights" should not supercede everyone else's...
Imagine the hysteria if they were airborne when he started shouting about bombs.
Plenty of holiday destinations which dont require flights that they could go to.

So doesn't that suggest that the real reason they weren't allowed to fly had more to do with the parent's behaviour than the boy's disability?

Your choice it’s not theirs . And tic’ing is not the same as a continuous autistic melt down

rarely and they continue to serve them onboard. And that is a choice Tourette’s is not.

If he was shouting FUCK over and over he would likely also be prevented from boarding. Nobody wants to hear BOMB on a plane, same as nobody needs to hear any inappropriate language on a plane. We've all watched videos of folk being de-planed for bad language, captain has the final say on that - BOMB is waaaay beyond Captain's level of authority. Like I said earlier, not sure what the best thing would have been to do here but I would NOT have boarded after anyone mentions blowing up the plane...

I'm really sad for him. Apparently he was escorted through the airport without issue despite shouting bomb there. It was only at the plane door that he was stopped despite BA knowing he had Tourette's. They said he was a threat because he may have a bomb in his bag, if they really thought that would they be stood there discussing it and then escorting him away?

It's just bullshit, it's discrimination and I hope they sue BA and win.

Wow, I guess he shouldn't be allowed to go to school either because he might shout swear words there too.

Probably best just to lock him away.

The vile, ableist bat shittery on here is so depressing.

When it is shouting something like bomb the impact it has on others can be the same.

as much as reasonable adjustments should be made where reasonable we have to consider everyone else in the situation too not just that one individual.

You’ve missed the point of the entire thread.

It isn’t simply a case of declaring ‘don’t worry folks, he has Tourette’s’ and everyone goes ‘ahhhhhh! Thank fuck for that’

Firstly if the airline agreed to a tannoy announcement they would be assuming responsibility for mitigating the impact on passengers and in particular nervous flyers. Notwithstanding the logistical nightmare of ensuring every passenger has either heard the announcement or ‘received a card’ (WTF), despite the fact they’ll all be going to the loo and browsing the shops until 1 minute before queuing, what does this mean legally? Would they be responsible if somebody didn’t get the memo, heard BOMB and has a heart attack or panic attack? Would declaring the boy has Tourette’s break some kind of medical confidentiality or data protection laws? Would you want your child’s disability printed in black and white and handed to hundreds of strangers?

Nervous flyers will be distressed even if they know it’s a tic because it will be reiterating their worst fear which they’re probably trying to distract themselves from. It’s not fair to them.

There would also be the legacy of then having to inform every passenger of the disability of another under similarish circumstances. How far does this go? Would they be expected to go through the whole thing again if somebody is autistic and acts socially inappropriately? It would be a nightmare.

Perhaps we should ban babies that cry then? The impact on others day is unacceptable huh? Because that’s what you’re saying because they KNEW he didn’t actually have a bomb.

I’ve misunderstood nothing at all. You’re saying nervous passengers needs trump a disabled person’s. That is neither legal nor acceptable.

the airlines assume responsibility for nut allergies and do announcements and in fact don’t bother with ‘cards’ as well for the theoretical deaf people you brought up. I was giving you a solution to your made up scenario. Deaf people have to make accommodations for themselves in these situations and most lip read. And don’t sit eating snickers bars after verbal announcements about nuts.

' so nobody has to miss out'? We don't actually.

My severe flying phobia would have been alleviated by the cockpit door being open. They won't do that.

Someone with covid during lockdown.

There are lots of situations where someone simply can't be accommodated.

I am.sorry for the boy. I once spent a 9 hour flight next to a family with a child having a meltdown the whole time. And that was fine. The mum was amazing!

But there is a limit to accommodation. Your right to wave your arms around ends at the tip of my nose. You can handwave away everyone else's needs while only considering one need.

the airlines assume responsibility for nut allergies and do announcements

That assumption has caused serious problems in the past.

For info with regard to nuts some airlines do assume responsibility, some don't, some airlines do announcements, some don't and won't.

Probably because breaching a nut allergy warning could kill someone whereas putting up with a disabled boy tic’ing about a none existent bomb won’t.

What nonsense Is this by the way. Who said anything about hand waving ?

your severe flying phobia that allowed you to endure a 9 hour flight next to a child having a 9 hour meltdown only underlines exactly that a child tic’ing ( which rarely if ever would last 9 hours I’ve certainly never heard of it) should have been also manageable by you as a nervous passenger.

You’ve just proved you misunderstood it 🙄

All of these problems fall away in light of the fact that the boy travelled without problems on another carrier a few days later. so he started shouting “bomb” on the other plain as well then? Identical flights?

TBH this whole thing smacks of compo culture on the part of the parents.

So they write to the airline the day before to warn them of the boy’s disability.

They get to the gate, and suddenly the boy starts shouting “bomb!” Just as they start to board.

Parents happen to be there with cameras to upload the performance to social media where they kick off at the airline staff.

Social media is full of sad face emoji’s, parents are put on another flight and an article appears which then sparks debates like the above.

Parents go after the airline, and hey presto, nice bit of compo there.

Smacks of a setup to me.

Please clarify exactly what ive said in any of this thread that is incorrect.

try and do it without making up more none existent or extreme scenarios.

Absolutely ridiculous. The airline needs to prioritise the safety of the passengers. Which is why these regulations are in place.

More extreme than airlines handing out printed cards with presumably confidential
medical information to explain why somebody screaming BOMB a thousand feet up shouldn’t make them panic?