Would you go down an escalator in a wheelchair?

[Smurof]

Even though the incident happened this past Summer, a lady died when she tried to go down an escalator, when it flipped and killed her, and now her family is suing....the airline of the plane she didn't catch.

 

It's hard to criticize people's reactions in an instant, but watching the video I can't believe how long it took anyone around to hit the escalator stop button. This lawsuit reminds me of when Sugarland the country band was sued when a sudden storm crushed concertgoers to death from scaffolding. They were to go on next.

[+ sync]

Very sad cascade of circumstances.

 

[rvwnsd]

No, as an able-minded person who can travel on his own I wouldn’t. However, it appears the individual involved required assistance and didn’t receive it. Alaska states the woman refused assistance, family says she didn’t. Here’s an article from Business Insider.

[bigvalboy]

The last few years of my father's life, he wanted to travel. He was 92 years old and in a wheelchair, so I accompanied him on two trips to Europe. I've never had an airline not offer assistance. In fact they went out of their way to accommodate us, even when I didn't need it. Recently I was changing planes in Atlanta, got off one flight and wasn't feeling good. I stopped briefly, put my luggage down and leaned up against a wall. Two airline employees saw me, and offered immediate aid, then insisted that I take an electric cart to my connecting flight.

 

This situation is very unfortunate, but my guess is that they offered, she refused, and then she got herself in trouble. Anyone who would think that they could descend an escalator in a wheelchair, has other issues going on that prevented proper judgement...

Edited December 30, 2017 by bigvalboy

[+ nycman]

And why is an airline responsible for baby sitting your elderly grandmother between flights?

 

Personal responsibility doesn’t exist any more and the world has gone mad.

 

Sadly, this will only lead to more regulation and higher ticket prices.

[gallahadesquire]

And why is an airline responsible for baby sitting your elderly grandmother between flights?

 

Personal responsibility doesn’t exist any more and the world has gone mad.

 

Sadly, this will only lead to more regulation and higher ticket prices.

 

Unfortunately, @nycman is correct. She might have proved alert and oriented when she got off the plane, but in retrospect she wasn't.

 

I've been using wheelchairs in airports of a few years now (I'm an orthopedic endowment). I can't stand still for long periods. Once, I had a wheelchair "pre-ordered" at the airport. I wandered in; the free-standing agents took one look, and asked if I needed a wheelchair, so it's pretty obvious.

 

So much for going to the gym three times a week.

[MikeBiDude]

Personal responsibility doesn’t exist any more and the world has gone mad.

This

[caliguy]

it appears the individual involved required assistance and didn’t receive it. Alaska states the woman refused assistance, .

Not to mention them not listing her as disabled. That would've alerted them. I'm not sure what the Airline is suppose to do when they actively reject any help and look ok.

 

This is another example of why insurance is so expensive. Too many ambulance chasing lawyers and too many are quick to sue. Where is the families responsibility here.

[+ pdxleo]

What I find so incredibly frustrating about this is the fact that the elevator is literally two feet to the right of the escalator! If anyone from Huntleigh, or for that matter any passing traveler, had followed the woman around the corner from the B gates to the drop down to the A gates, and pointed out the elevator next to the escalator, this woman would have not become a death and the center of any controversy. We all have to take much better care of our seniors- as we all age and our society changes, we just have to be better to each other.

[mike carey]

Wheel chair on an escalator can be done. I've seen footage of it here, for example on news coverage of railway stations that are not 'wheel chair accessible'. But, and it's a big but (no, not big butt), it has always been young and otherwise fit people, like paralympians, who have the process of using an escalator down to a fine art, and they were usually in what looks more like a sports chair than a normal when chair.

[MikeBiDude]

I don’t know PDX intimately but usually elevators are nearby and clearly marked. I used used them in my stroller toting days, NEVER an escalator.

[BigK]

The guys who jumped in to help were all heroic. Especially the guy running down the up escalator and jumping into the down escalator.