Passenger forced to drag himself off Air Canada flight after airline failed to provide wheelchair assistance

A B.C. man who uses a wheelchair says he was forced to drag himself off an Air Canada flight in Las Vegas, after the airline failed to provide the assistance required for him to safely exit the plane.

Rodney and Deanna Hodgins flew from Vancouver to Las Vegas in late August, in a much-anticipated trip to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Rodney, who is 49, has spastic cerebral palsy, and uses a motorized wheelchair.

The Prince George, B.C. couple travels every year, and is accustomed to the standard process to help him exit the plane. Usually, after the rest of the passengers have exited, an airline employee will bring an aisle chair — an extremely narrow version of a wheelchair controlled by handles.

But after landing in Las Vegas, an Air Canada flight attendant told the Hodgins no help, and no aisle seat, was coming — and said Rodney would need to get to the front of the plane by himself.

The couple said the suggestion was so absurd, they laughed, thinking it was a joke. 

"How am I supposed to get to the front of my plane when I can't walk? If I didn't need a wheelchair, I wouldn't have been sitting there," said Rodney.

The Hodgins' said they eventually felt they had no choice, didn't want to be rude, and didn't want to hold up the plane. Rodney lifted himself down to the floor and used his arms to drag himself from row 12 to the front of the plane, while in excruciating pain. Deanna crawled in the aisle behind him to help.

An Air Canada flight crew, including the pilot, co-pilot, two flight attendants and eight cleaning staff watched, but didn't intervene. 

In a statement, Air Canada said "we use the services of a third party wheelchair assistance specialist in Las Vegas. Following our investigation into how this serious service lapse occurred, we will be evaluating other Mobility Assistance service partners in Las Vegas."

Deanna called the experience "dehumanizing."

"You are watching this man grab the back of a chair and then struggle and fight while I'm on the ground, crawling on the ground moving his legs, and we're trying to get him to the front of the plane. I'm fighting his spasms trying to lift up his legs," she said.

Once the couple reached the front of the plane, Rodney was able to access his motorized wheelchair. They said they were in shock, and asked to speak to the airport manager, who apologized profusely.

The Hodgins enjoyed their vacation, though the ordeal left Rodney with significant pain for several days.

On their return flight, an Air Canada representative met with them, and told them to go through the airline's formal complaint process.