A video of an American Airlines worker dropping a wheelchair down a luggage chute while another watches it crash onto the tarmac at Miami International Airport is drawing outrage and concern.
The video, posted on Only in Dade on Wednesday, was filmed by a passenger who was waiting for her flight. It shows the wheelchair shooting down from a jet bridge before it hits a metal barrier and flips onto the tarmac. A worker on the ground then walks over, picks up the chair and stores it for the flight.
In a statement to NBC6, American Airlines said it is reviewing the video, which was widely circulated on social media.
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"We recognize how important it is to support the independence of customers with disabilities by ensuring the proper care of mobility devices throughout their journey with us," the statement read. "This visual is deeply concerning and we are gathering more details so that we can address them with our team. We will continue to work hard to improve our handling of assistive devices across our network."
The video prompted many users to call out airlines for frequently mishandling mobility devices and highlighted the troubles disabled travelers face.
"People who use wheelchairs in order to be independent are always mentioning how awful the airlines handle their wheelchairs and this is evidence for the whole world to see. Imagine that chair not working now and the owner not having a way to get around now…," one user commented on Instagram.
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"This isn’t something to joke around, those chairs are very expensive and much needed for a disabled person, these people should be held responsible for property vandalism and damage," another Instagram user said.
American Airlines said they routinely provide training to their employees on how to appropriately handle wheelchairs and mobility devices and that movers.
