‘Like a Sack of Potatoes’: Wheelchair User Describes Frightening Ordeal Getting Off LIAT Flight

Anthony Mills, a wheelchair user who travelled to Antigua for CHOGM, has described a frightening ordeal in which he says firefighters had to carry him off a LIAT aircraft because suitable equipment was unavailable.

Mills said he remained aboard the plane for some time after its arrival while arrangements were made to help him disembark. When assistance eventually came, he said the experience left him feeling frightened, embarrassed and concerned for his safety.

“They got the fire department to come and lift me like a sack of potatoes to get off of the plane,” he said.

According to Mills, two people carried him from the aircraft, and at one point he felt one person’s hand slipping.

“It was really embarrassing and scary to have two people lifting me up to get me off of the plane,” he said, questioning what could have happened had he fallen.

Mills said the incident became even more troubling when an airline employee allegedly told him that LIAT did not usually accept passengers requiring lifting assistance. He understood the explanation to mean that the airline did not accommodate wheelchair users who needed help transferring onto or off an aircraft.

That account has not been independently verified, and the material provided does not establish the airline’s actual policy.

Mills argued that passengers with disabilities should be able to travel throughout the Caribbean with appropriate assistance and the same dignity afforded to other travellers.

He called on the airline to review its arrangements, saying the issue extended beyond his own experience to other wheelchair users who depend on regional air transport.

“We travel like everybody else, so we should be treated like everybody else,” he said.

Responding to Mills’ account, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Bernard Warner, called on LIAT’s management to publicly clarify its policy on accommodating passengers with disabilities.

Warner described the reported experience as unacceptable and said safety considerations must be supported by practical arrangements that allow passengers with disabilities to travel comfortably and with dignity.

He also questioned whether the employee’s alleged explanation accurately reflected company policy, saying the public deserved a clear answer.

Warner urged management to address Mills’ complaint promptly and explain what assistance wheelchair users could expect when booking and travelling with the airline.

If the incident resulted from a gap in service rather than an established policy, Warner said that gap needed to be corrected.

No response from LIAT was included in the material provided.