Refused help, disabled passenger crawls up stairs to board plane

The airline is in violation of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

A disabled Japanese passenger and a low-cost airline made international headlines after the passenger, a paraplegic without the use of his legs, had to resort to crawling up a flight of stairs in order to board an airplane at Amami Airport.

While the airline was forced to apologize and promised to improve services for disabled passengers, discussion in Japan focused mainly on whether or not the passenger had engaged in a publicity stunt, rather than that disabled passengers should expect reasonable accommodation when traveling rather than discrimination.

The passenger, Kijima Hideto, had been visiting Amami Oshima,