A Ukrainian veteran who had received treatment in Israel was removed from a Wizz Air flight from Tel Aviv to Warsaw recently, according to video shared on social media over the weekend.
The video, published on TikTok by user @mbbddk, showed the man standing with crutches at the front of the plane before eventually being removed.
A #Ukrainian veteran was forced to leave a flight from Tel Aviv to WarsawThe man in the video could not sit in his seat because of his prosthesis. He said he lost his leg in the war and he was flying home to his family in #Ukraine. He was crying and yelling “how am I going to… pic.twitter.com/zc55g1DKm6
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 8, 2023
The user who published the video wrote that the man had lost his leg during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was flying home to Ukraine to his family. The man was removed from the flight after an hour and half, during which he was told “we are trying to solve this problem,” according to the user.
While waiting, the man yelled “how am I going to get home?” and at one point fell down as he was left waiting, according to the reports.
View of a ”Wizz Air” flight, a Hungarian low-cost airline, taking off from Ben-Gurion Airport. September 03, 2014. (credit: MOSHE SHAI/FLASH90)Wizz Air apologizes for incident
Wizz Air apologized for the incident on Tuesday, writing in a Twitter post that “Safety is our number one priority and it is our crew’s responsibility to ensure that all passengers are fit to fly or are accompanied by someone to support them.”
— Wizz Air (@wizzair) July 9, 2023
“If there is any indication that a passenger has a medical condition that might put them at risk while flying, we are obligated to deny boarding,” added the airline. “In this instance, it was a difficult but necessary decision taken with the passenger’s safety in mind. He was provided with water and somewhere to sit while waiting for assistance from airport staff.”
A number of Ukrainian veterans injured amid the fighting in Ukraine have been brought to Israel for treatment since the war began.
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