American airlines offloads cancer patient in Delhi

A cancer patient was allegedly asked to deboard from a New York-bound flight after she asked the airline crew to help with her cabin luggage

New Delhi: A cancer patient was allegedly asked to deboard from a New York-bound flight after she asked the airline crew to help with her cabin luggage, reports said.

The woman reportedly had undergone surgery and had booked a return ticket on an American Airlines flight to the US from Delhi on January 30.

Reports quoting sources said that the passenger, identified as Meenakshi Sengupta, has lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police against a flight attendant in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken cognisance of the incident and asked for a report from the airline on the matter, reports said.

In the complaint, Sengupta claimed that she was wearing a brace and was unable to carry any weight in her hands as she was weak from surgery. She had sought help from an air hostess to put her handbag in the overhead bin, but alleged that the flight attendant refused to help her, saying that it was “not her job to do it”, reports said.

Sengupta also alleged that the air hostess was “rude and arrogant” with her words, adding that when she asked for help from the aircraft members, they were “largely indifferent”.

“They said that if I am so uncomfortable, I should just de-board the flight. They were collective in their decision to deboard me,” she said, as per reports.

The American Airlines issued a statement that a “disruptive customer” was deboarded from the aircraft for “failure to follow crew member instructions”.