Pamela Prescod, a 69-year-old woman who is visually impaired, experienced this incident at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on April 6.
What We Know:
- The crew-on-board the plane told her to wait and they would be back with a needed wheelchair as well as to help her fill out her customs forms. However, they never returned.
- Prescod told CTV News Kitchener that “(I was) scared because I have all these health issues I didn’t even have a cell phone to call for help. The scariest time of my life was there.”
- She sat on the plane until a maintenance worker noticed her about an hour later. If it was not for him, she might have been on the plane for several more hours until eventually, the cleaning crew arrived.
- Air Canada told CTV News that according to video footage that Prescod was only there for ten to fifteen minutes and that this was all just a miscommunication error.
- “Following this incident, we undertook to review our protocols with respect to on-board service,” Air Canada wrote in the statement. “This involves reinforcing our procedures by more specifically designating responsibilities among crew members to ensure consistent and proper care and handling of all customers, especially those with special needs.”
- The company refunded Prescod’s ticket and gave her a $500 voucher. However, that is not enough.
- “I don’t think a plane ticket is good enough,” Prescod said. “I was traumatized.”
- This incident is just days after Tiffani O’Brien came forward about her own experience with Air Canada. During a flight earlier this month, O’Brien said she was left on the plane after falling asleep. The plane had been parked with all its lights turned off. She was eventually spotted by crew members on the ground.
- Prescod’s daughters will be traveling with their mother from now on. “I hope Air Canada realizes they have a commitment to their clients and a responsibility that we are safe, and I hope they do have to face public accountability,” Michell Knight, one of the daughters, stated.
Hoping that the Prescod family is doing fine after this incident.
