‘Install devices to assist disabled people’

GETTING on or off an aircraft can be very uncomfortable for people with disabilities, especially for paraplegic (without the use of leg).
National Board for Disable Persons (NBDP) chairman Brown Kapi who is wheelchair-bound, knows this too well.
Two weeks ago, he came close to falling off from the top of a staircase of a Fokker F100 while he was being helped by a cargo handler at Nadzab Airport, Morobe, to get on board a Port Moresby-bound plane.
“The stairway was quiet steep and I was sliding down but was caught in time by the flight attendant who quickly rushed to my side after realising my situation,” Kapi said.
Kapi, who is paraplegic, said people like him were vulnerable in terms of having access in and out of the aircraft.
He called on the airline to install assistive devices in its main airports as well as offer training its staff members on ways to handle paraplegics.
“From the way I was handled I would say the guy lacked the necessary skills,” he added.
Kapi also recalled another moment where he was left alone in the airplane while everybody else had disembarked.
“There was nobody there to help me out so the two kind-hearted pilots, and I would like to commend them for their action, left the cockpit and helped me down the staircase.”
Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumasiri said Port Moresby’s Jackson Airport was provided with suitable equipment to assist customers with disabilities while the rest of the network lacked similar capabilities
“Air Niugini has already considered this requirement and is currently reviewing the process to provide such equipment in other major domestic ports,” he said, adding that the airline endeavoured to accommodate the needs to the travelling public, including the disabled customers.
Kapi said the number of paraplegic travellers had gone up and the airline needed also to ensure access to aircraft or airport facility such as toilets were available.
Benson Tege, another paraplegic from the highlands who works with the Health Department, was not so lucky.
He fell while being helped onto the flight in Mt Hagen and sustained some minor injuries.
He said he could have sued the airline but lacked resources and the capacity as well as the support.