BBC's Frank Gardner forced to crawl to toilet on LOT flight as plane had no wheelchair

A disabled BBC journalist was forced to crawl to the bathroom along the floor of a plane as the craft he was flying in had no wheelchair on board.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner shared a photo on X of him having to drag himself along the aisle, on a LOT flight back to the UK from Warsaw.

The veteran journalist has been a wheelchair user since 2004, when he was left partially paralysed after being shot by Al-Qaeda gunmen in Saudi Arabia.

Sharing his experience on X on Monday, he wrote: “Wow. It’s 2024 and I’ve just had to crawl along the floor of this LOT Polish airline to get to the toilet during a flight back from Warsaw as “we don’t have onboard wheelchairs. It’s airline policy”.

“If you’re disabled and you can’t walk this is just discriminatory.”

LOT, Poland’s national airline, has since apologised to Mr Gardner.

He added on X: “In fairness to the cabin crew, they were as helpful and apologetic as they could be. Not their fault, it’s the airline. Won’t be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century.”

He said all other airlines he has flown with in recent years have onboard wheelchairs available for passengers who need them.

Other X users slammed Mr Gardner’s experience as “horrendous” and “absolutely unforgivable”.

“Good lord, Frank, that's horrendous. At least the crew did their best, but just astonishing that you had to crawl,” wrote user Kate Bevan.

“Absolutely DISGRACEFUL,” commented another. “So sorry, how can an airline in this day & age can treat a disabled person like that? Beggars beyond belief!”

In a statement, LOT said: "We are deeply sorry for the distressing experience Mr Frank Gardner encountered on his recent flight with us. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and discomfort caused by the lack of an onboard wheelchair.

"Currently, onboard wheelchairs are available on our Dreamliner aircraft. However, due to limited space, our short-haul fleet does not yet have this facility. We understand the importance of accessibility and are actively testing solutions to equip our short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs in the near future.

"As mentioned on our website, for long-haul flights, we provide onboard wheelchairs to assist passengers in moving around the cabin. Additionally, our ground staff is always ready to assist passengers from check-in to boarding and from the aircraft to the baggage claim area.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience Mr Gardner experienced and sincerely apologise for the distress caused. We are committed to improving our services to ensure all passengers have a comfortable and dignified travel experience."

Mr Gardner has previously raised awareness of difficulties he has faced while using airplanes and other modes of transport, as a disabled person.

In 2022, he was left stranded on an aircraft at Gatwick after flying to the London airport with Iberia Express.