A differently-abled passenger on an Air India flight has alleged that she had to “crawl” to the passenger coach after landing at the airport here as the airline did not arrange a wheelchair for “security reasons”. Air India has denied the allegation, saying the wheelchair was provided at the doorstep of the aircraft.

Anita Ghai, Associate Professor, Delhi University, took the Alliance Air (Air India’s regional arm) flight from Dehradun on Friday, with four of her colleagues. “Despite my repeated requests, the [air] hostess did not recognise my requirement for a wheelchair after reaching. The flight reached at 7.30 p.m. I waited patiently with one of my friends,” she said.

“At 8:15 p.m., we realised that there was no chance of [getting] a wheelchair. The [passenger] coach came at 8.30 p.m. after repeated requests from the flight commander. Since security reasons are critical, they made me crawl to go to the coach,” she alleged.

“We strongly deny the statement. We at Air India give utmost importance to passenger’s safety and comfort,” an Air India statement said. Since the ATR aircraft was parked at a distant bay, it took some time to bring the wheelchair, the airline said. “Since passengers were getting down from the aircraft, our support staff actively helped the passenger to come out of the plane and the wheelchair was provided at the doorstep,” Air India said.