Disability Travel - Reminder: check your equipment carefully

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Japan from the southern USA for a sporting event in Osaka. I'm usually pretty vigilant about making sure everything is in order before leaving the airport, but I slipped up this one time.

Needless to say, halfway through a game against Australia, the seat post of my basketball chair snapped and I was out for the tournament. There is no way a fall or my own motion could have caused that amount of damage but unfortunately, it snapped about three days after landing in Nippon. I should have removed the upholstery and checked everything in the airport.

Traveling home to YYJ, my ball chair came out with its axels bent so badly the wheels could barely move. I quickly reported this to the airline, but my chair is from a German speciality company - no quick fix available. New axels are in order from France.

A few days later, I traveled back to the southern USA where I train. This time the ball chair came out with the second post visibly snapped (it's been a bit of a rough go - I haven't had this much bad luck in years).

I'm attempting to deal with UA mobility services about the post, but they have no idea what I'm talking about. They keep wanting to rent me a piece of replacement equipment and I keep telling them it simply doesn't exist. I the mean time, I've found a welder down here in AL who's piecing things back together.

Moral of the story: check all your equipment super carefully before leaving the airport. I didn't, and I lost out on a couple of international games and two weeks of training.

C'est la vie , I suppose....

It does make you wonder how they store wheelchairs on board after they leave our sight. My chair was slightly bent in JNB but luckily it was easily fixed.

You're scaring me...

I haven't tried taking my racing chair on a plane yet, but all my buddies keep telling me it's no big deal.

When I was racing internationally I used a crate for my race chair. 9 times out of 10 it will be OK, but that 10 th time....I've seen frames snapped and disc wheels shattered. I'd get a crate if you're going internationally....

It does make you wonder how they store wheelchairs on board after they leave our sight. My chair was slightly bent in JNB but luckily it was easily fixed.

Storing is only the second hurdle. The most...... interesting hurdle is the first one, I've found on too many times. Can't count the times on two hands anymore that I personally had the "pleasure" of viewing bagage staff getting my manual chair from the gateway to the tarmac to bagage cargo. Let's just say they literally throw with the chair as is done with suitcases way too many times. One can do the math how easily damage can occure when being so "carefull" with chairs. Even having an airline higher official there to keep an eye out for me doesn't mean a 100% no throwing.

One of the reasons I now tend to have an FA watch the procedures but close the window for myself. Aint helping me to see them throw my chair and then having the stress of what might be the damage hours to landing. Do have an FA on the look out, so there is a witness if throwing does occure and damage shows up during a connection or arrival.

Have to say, since getting a chair that has 4-point individual suspension has reduced the size and times of damage considerably. Guess the manufacturer didn't only have extreme sports in mind while building it but also airtravel. ;) Throwing so far seems to be an obvious reason for damage that occured with my (custom built, tough cookie) former manual chair. Since getting my new suspension chair some years ago, the worst might be a bent break (which has no suspension :D ) or a possible scratch more on the paint.

As far as powerchairs go? Have caught situations so far of joy-riding, illegal rewiring, pushing of a steep ramp and then letting go of it (let's hope no wall gets in the way), loading without checking to see if a container is lined up with the bagage doors or not etc. etc.

Where my damage to the manual chair nowadays tends to be small enough, my powerchair gets it a lot harder. Read; damage that tends to need blunt stupid force to occure like dislocating the backrest on the latest flight. Yet somehow most of the times (let's touch some serious wood!!) they do manage to not perforate the airpillow system* I've got on the back of the seat and obviously is fragile but unfortunately not removable and only in a degree can be protected by handing over the chair travelsafe as possible.


* most will know the Roho pillows for sitting on with all the different cells; like that but long enough to cover the entire back of the chair

We've flown with my daughter's manual chair and her racing chair. We've been relatively lucky, but we also bring bubble wrap for areas like her compensator or other parts that could be damaged. Of course, we take anything off that we can. This past weekend, we were flying with a large w/c basketball team on Southwest, we must of had over 20 chairs in the cargo and all of them came out ok.

I've seen more training on baggage handling in the U.S. through organizations like Open Doors Organization. I can only hope that more non-U.S. carriers realize the liability that they create when they don't treat these pieces of equipment with respect.