Charlotte Family Pushing to Make Flights More Accessible After Girl’s Wheelchair Severely Damaged

Charlotte, North Carolina

By HERE News

Published: Apr. 5, 2024 at 5:20 AM EDT

A Charlotte mother is speaking out after her 8-year-old daughter’s wheelchair was damaged during a recent flight. Elliot Parker was born with muscular dystrophy, and she relies on her motorized wheelchair to get around. Elliot and her mother flew to Los Angeles in February for a Make-A-Wish trip. When they returned to Charlotte after an American Airlines flight, her wheelchair was returned to her with several parts broken off of it.

“We had bubble wrapped it and labeled it and made sure that the crew knew exactly where they could push, how much it weighed, what the batteries were made of, everything to make sure that they were prepared to take care of it,” Caitlin told HERE News.

Damaged Wheelchair

Despite her best efforts, she says it was damaged either during or after the flight. “We were transferring her out onto the breezeway to get back at the gate and they had rolled it up to us and everything was just hanging off of it,” she said. “The chair, the laterals, the arm rests and all the electrical devices had all fallen off.”

“The first thing they said was they didn’t touch it, that they didn’t break it,” she said. “At that point, it wasn’t very useful information because obviously something significant had happened. It was either dropped, dragged, or fell.”

Advocacy for Change

The family stayed at the airport for several hours filling out paperwork and making sure American Airlines had everything necessary to file a claim and investigate what happened. “We were able to figure out a way to put some of the pieces back on,” she said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have another option and we weren’t offered another option either, so we had to use the broken chair the best that we could in order to get back to our house.”

For more than a month, the family waited for a replacement, and Elliot relied on the damaged wheelchair to get around.

“We want all of our customers to have a positive experience when they fly with us, including those who travel with wheelchairs and assistive devices. We know how important it is to support the independence of customers with disabilities, and we have been in touch with the customer to apologize and are working alongside our partners to fully replace the device.” – American Airlines spokesperson

Advocating for Accessibility

Caitlin still has concerns about the way American Airlines handled this after she got a voicemail saying they would not be sending her a damage report. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2023, 11,527 wheelchairs and scooters were mishandled by carriers required to report this data to DOT. It’s why Caitlin is pushing for change.

“If we have to go through this experience, the best thing that we can do with it is make sure that we’re moving forward, trying to make progress for it to be better next time,” she said.

A Call for Legislation

Elliot has been in a wheelchair since she was 18 months old. She’s hopeful that one day, airplanes will be designed to allow her to stay in her chair. “The aisle get a bit bigger, like a few chairs be removed for like wheelchair seating,” Elliot said. Her mother shares in that dream.

“Until we get that right, not only will wheelchair users miss out on opportunities to travel, to work, to be with loved ones, but society will miss out on their contributions. We know we can do a better job as a country, just as the ADA helped us do a better job as a country in so many other forms of access, airlines should be no exception, and we’re going to hold them to a higher standard.” – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

Resolution and Hope

WBTV asked American Airlines about the damage report, and a spokesperson said the case is still open and under investigation. Elliot received a new wheelchair at the end of March.