Remember his Special Olympics "joke" on Letterman's show? There is something seriously wrong with any man who hates and fears others who are different...
From AP via Yahoo News:
Disabled Californis boy not allowed to board airplane
A California family not allowed to board a cross-country flight said Tuesday that they believe they were discriminated against because their son has Down syndrome.
Robert Vanderhorst, his wife Joan and 16-year-old son Bede, who is disabled, were booked to fly on an American Airlines flight from Newark to Los Angeles on Sunday when the boy and his parents were not allowed on the plane.
The
family from Porterville had upgraded to first class tickets at an
airport kiosk, and asked the airline to seat the boy and one of his
parents together, Vanderhorst said — a request the airline granted.
When
the family was ready to board, they were stopped by airline personnel,
told their son was a "security risk" and would not be allowed on the
flight. The parents protested, and later were rebooked to fly coach with
another airline.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller
said the disabled boy was agitated and running around the gate area
prior to boarding, which his parents dispute. The airplane's pilot
observed the boy, Miller said, and made the call based on his behavior.
But Vanderhorst said his son did not run at any time, did not make any loud noises and didn't display any other offensive behaviors. The boy walked around with him or sat quietly in the gate area, Vanderhorst said.
A cell phone video captured by the boy's mother shows Bede sitting and quietly playing with a baseball cap.
Vanderhorst said Bede, a freshman at Granite Hills High School in Porterville, about 70 miles from Fresno, is very charming in contact with other people. The family has flown more than two dozen times with him, without any difficulties.
"Usually my
son gets his snack and falls asleep, just like most people," Vanderhorst said. "The problem is this pilot thought my son might not be
like most people. He didn't want a disabled person disturbing other passengers in first class."
The family says the pilot might have also been affected by the disabled boy's size — Bede is 5'1 and weighs 160 lbs.
On
the second airplane, the family was placed in the last row and no
passengers were allowed to sit within two rows of them, Vanderhorst
said.
He hoped that airlines would change their mentality when dealing with the disabled.
"It's
ridiculous and groundless to claim that this kid created a security
risk," he said. "It was the pilot's insecurity. I paid for those seats
and there was nothing that should have prevented us from taking that
flight."
American Airlines' Miller said the company will reimburse the family for the upgrade fees.
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