LOT Polish Airlines ‘sorry’ after disabled BBC reporter Frank Gardner had to ‘crawl along floor’ on ‘discriminatory’ airline

A BBC News journalist had to “crawl along the floor” to use the toilet on a plane because the airline did not allow wheelchairs on to flights.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner posted on X a picture of his legs on the floor of an aircraft, which he said was on a flight back from Warsaw, operated by LOT Polish Airlines, on Monday.

In the accompanying message, he said he had “just had to crawl along the floor to get to the toilet as ‘we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy'”.

He called the situation “discriminatory” to anyone unable to walk.

In a further post, he added that it was the carrier’s fault, rather than that of the cabin crew, who were “as helpful and apologetic as they could be.

“Won’t be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century,” he said.

The veteran correspondent was shot six times by al Qaeda sympathisers while reporting from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, in June 2004, and was left paralysed in the legs.

His colleague, cameraman Simon Cumbers, was shot dead in the attack.

Among the supportive responses to Monday’s post, social media users called it “shocking”, “outrageous”, “appalling” and “unbelievable”, while one simply said: “Words fail”.

Several users questioned why airlines weren’t obliged to provide an onboard wheelchair and why cabin crew hadn’t carried the passenger to the toilet.

The airline said it was “deeply sorry” for what it called Mr Gardner’s “distressing experience” and the “inconvenience and discomfort caused by the lack of an onboard wheelchair.”

In a statement, LOT said onboard wheelchairs are available on its Dreamliner planes, but not on its short-haul fleet because of “limited space”.

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It is testing solutions to equip short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs “in the near future”.

They are available on its long-haul flights, it said, and added that ground staff are “always ready to assist passengers from check-in to boarding and from the aircraft to the baggage claim area.”

The airline said it was “committed to improving our services to ensure all passengers have a comfortable and dignified travel experience.”

It’s not the first time the reporter has shown frustration with airlines.

In 2022 he posted on Twitter (now X) that he had been left on a plane after Heathrow Airport failed to deliver his wheelchair to him when he landed.

Four years earlier he also tweeted about being left on a plane and Heathrow changed its policy, “so that wheelchairs are now delivered to plane doors rather than the terminal, even if it doesn’t always work,” the BBC said on its website.