British Airways Bars 13-Year-Old With Tourette's After 'Bomb' Remark, Costing Family £2,400
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 26
British Airways Bars 13-Year-Old With Tourette's After 'Bomb' Remark, Costing Family £2,400
8 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 26
Armed police escorted a 13-year-old boy with Tourette syndrome and his family from Gatwick after British Airways blocked them from boarding a Spain flight over his repeated use of the word "bomb."
BA said the decision was not based on the boy's disability but on a perceived security threat, while his father said staff had been warned a day earlier about his Tourette's and possible verbal tics.
£4,000 had already been spent on flights for the 10-person group, and the family then paid another £2,400 for replacement Vueling tickets after missing the first day of their holiday.
The family reached Alicante on Sunday, but said the incident was discriminatory and left everyone in tears, with one sister allowed to board separately with family friends.
When a boy's medical tic is a 'bomb' threat, must an airline choose security over disability rights?
How can airport security evolve to differentiate a neurological condition from a genuine threat?