Passengers with disabilities say they want to remain in wheelchairs on flights

When James Glasbergen boarded an Air Transat flight departing from Toronto to London on June 30, he was excited to begin his journey to see the Rolling Stones play live in Europe.

What the 46-year-old quadriplegic man from Kitchener, Ont., wasn't looking forward to was getting out of his custom-fitted electric wheelchair and into an airplane seat, as required by federal law.

His concerns turned out to be warranted after airline staff helping to transfer Glasbergen to his seat dropped him in the aisle, setting off a more than three-minute struggle to lift the 200-plus-pound man from the floor and set him upright.

"There wasn't enough room for them to get me into the seat, and they dropped me," said Glasbergen, a former travel agent who is paralyzed from the chest down due to injuries suffered during a car accident in 1992. 

"All of a sudden, my body hit the floor with a big thud."

A video Glasbergen posted to YouTube captured the moments just after he fell. It shows him wedged between the seat and a wheelchair while two men struggle to lift him over an armrest and into a seat. 

After two failed attempts, a flight attendant and another passenger step in to help and the group successfully seats him.

"It's gone beyond frustration and shock. Now, I'm just angry," Glasbergen said, adding it's not the first time he's been dropped.

"There's absolutely no dignity for people with disabilities that need assistance transferring."

Glasbergen is calling on airlines and regulators to figure out a way to allow wheelchair users to remain seated in their personal mobility devices when they fly, as they can on buses and trains. 

Between the hassle, potential injuries and damage to wheelchairs stowed alongside luggage, people who rely on wheelchairs for mobility, advocates and the U.S. transportation secretary, argue it's time to make air travel more accessible so people living with disabilities have a more equitable flying experience.

"If they can figure out how to fly a helicopter on Mars, they can figure out how to get wheelchair users sitting in their wheelchairs safely," Glasbergen said. 

"It's not something that's going to take weeks or days because obviously some cabin reconfiguration might have to be done … I just want to see progress."

In an email statement to CBC Toronto, Air Transat apologized and said it is in contact with Glasbergen to discuss how to improve future travel experiences.