Disability Travel - Blind man told to give up cane - American Airlines

http://kdka.com/local/blind.man.flight.2.1971310.html
http://kdka.com/local/bill.diamond.cane.2.1980321.html

(And of course where the news report says "walking cane", they mean "mobility cane" or "white cane".)

It is quite possible that there was a miscommunication between the FA and Mr. Diamond. The FA probably asked him to stow the cane properly for takeoff and landing, and he thought they were not allowing him to use it at all.

I am also inclined to believe that the flight attendant merely wanted to secure the cane for take-off and landing. I have used a walking cane for twenty years and no one has ever told me that I cannot have it on the plane. It folds up and I put it in my carry-on bag under my seat. Occasionally a flight attendant will see the cane and want to put it in the overhead compartment before I fold it up. Once the flight attendant sees that the cane is put away safely there has never been any discussion.

It makes no sense to make a disabled person more disabled by depriving him of his cane. It would just make the tasks of the flight attendant more difficult.