BBC journalist Frank Gardner forced to 'crawl along floor' to use plane's toilet

A BBC News journalist had to "crawl along the floor" to use the toilet on a plane because the airline did not allow wheelchairs on to flights.

Security correspondent Frank Gardner posted a picture on X showing his legs on the floor of an aircraft, which he said was on a flight back from Warsaw, operated by LOT Polish Airlines, on Monday.

He described how he had "just had to crawl along the floor to get to the toilet as 'we don't have onboard wheelchairs. It's airline policy'".

The 63-year-old called the situation "discriminatory" to anyone unable to walk.

He blamed the airline rather the cabin crew who he said were "as helpful and apologetic as they could be".

"Won't be flying LOT again until they join the 21st century," Gardner added.

The veteran correspondent was left paralysed in his legs after he was shot six times by al Qaeda sympathisers while reporting from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in June 2004.

His colleague, cameraman Simon Cumbers, was shot dead in the attack.

After sharing his ordeal on the flight, Gardner received supportive messages from social media users who called the situation "shocking", "outrageous", "appalling" and "unbelievable". One simply wrote: "Words fail".

Several users questioned why airlines weren't obliged to provide an onboard wheelchair and why cabin crew hadn't carried the passenger to the toilet.

In a statement, LOT Polish Airlines said it was "deeply sorry" for Gardner's "distressing experience" and the "inconvenience and discomfort caused by the lack of an onboard wheelchair."

It said onboard wheelchairs are available on its Dreamliner planes but not on its short-haul fleet because of "limited space".

The airline is testing solutions to equip short-haul aircraft with onboard wheelchairs "in the near future".

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It is not the first time the correspondent has shown frustration with airlines.

In 2022, he posted on Twitter (now X) that he had been left on a plane after Heathrow Airport failed to deliver his wheelchair to him when he landed.

Later that year, Gardner said the UK's main airports should be "ashamed" of the way they treat disabled passengers after he was left stranded on a plane at Gatwick following a NATO summit in Madrid.

He said it was the fifth time he had been stranded on a plane in four years, adding that he had been left "waiting in an empty aircraft long after all the other passengers have been off-loaded".