Viral Video Of American Airlines Employee Crashing Wheelchair Draws Outrage

LOADING ERROR LOADING American Airlines faced backlash from disabled people online after a video of an employee mishandling a wheelchair being offloaded from a plane in Miami went viral over the weekend. “This is not what I’d call ‘handling with care’ for someone’s mobility device….” The video gained thousands of views and likes on TikTok and circulated on X, drawing outrage from disabled people who called out American Airlines and shared fears they frequently have about traveling on airplanes with their wheelchairs and mobility aids. In a statement sent to HuffPost on Tuesday, an American Airlines spokesperson described the video as “deeply concerning” and said the airlines will “continue to work hard to improve our handling of assistive devices across our network.” “We recognize how important it is to support the independence of customers with disabilities by ensuring the proper care of mobility devices throughout their journey with us,” the statement said. On X, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said that the American Airlines incident shown in the video was “unacceptable” and that the Department of Transportation would conduct an inquiry.