Do you have to prove a disability to TSA
#16
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 962
When I went through the NOS at Dulles a year or so ago, I had put a crumpled paper towel near my "private area." Sure enough, an "anomaly" showed up on the Gumby screen. The clerk asked about the "anomaly" before he started his "pat-down" and I told him I had a medical condition. When that didn't satisfy him, I said (loud enough for other male & female clerks and fellow passengers to hear): "I have genital warts caused by years of unprotected sex. They are really oozing right now." Needless to say, I was released from the checkpoint without further screening.
However, suggestion for next time: don't make statements, just implications. Let them come to their own conclusions.
For instance: I've gone through TSA several times wearing a kilt, held up by a webbing and D-ring belt. They wanted me to take my belt off.
So I asked them to put in writing that they really, really wanted to insist that I remove my belt, and suggested that they probably really did not want to do that.
They backed down. My belt stayed on. Nobody got flashed.
However, one time (at MIA), the TSO patting me down grabbed my dick through my kilt. The police refused to take a report about it.
#17
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SYD (perenially), GVA (not in a long time)
Programs: QF PS, EK-Gold, Security Theatre Critic
Posts: 6,704
Unfortunately, some people have been abusing the rules so those who are truly disabled suffer as a result.
Rolling Past a Line, Often by Exploiting a Rule
Rolling Past a Line, Often by Exploiting a Rule
Now first, presumably these "huge" or "giant" carry-ons were nevertheless within airline limits. So why use such pejorative terms to imply that the passengers are taking advantage? Is it a requirement that someone with a disability is only allowed a tiny carry-on?
Secondly, the LHR wheelchair passengers carried their bags on their laps. Where would you expect them to carry them? On their heads? Or expect the wheelchair pusher to handle the carry-on as well? Is the inability to walk for long distances, stand in long lines or climb stairs equivalent to the inability to hold a bag in one's lap whilst seated?
So she "plopped" back in the chair. So what? And she nodded to the pusher. So what? This is simply hyperbole to make the passenger sound like she's up to something.
On the other hand, the author acknowledges that not all disabilities are visible; for example, some who can walk short distances cannot stand in long lines. Maybe she could reconsider her observations in light of that fact. Possibly someone who cannot walk long distances and stand for long periods has a problem with their feet, legs, knees or hips but has good upper body strength and can lift bags on and off the x-ray or carry a bag in their lap.
Some years ago prior to hip replacement surgery I did two int'l trips (10 flights in total) with wheelchair assistance and it was a real eye opener. I could stand, I could walk and I could lift my own bag over my head (it was my hip, not my back or arms!) but I was in agony if I had to walk more than 100 feet or stand for more than 15 minutes at a time. I was a lot younger than the average hip replacement candidate and so I know people thought I was a fraud in the wheelchair. I didn't care; I knew I needed it.
In my 10 flights, I was always told to wait until everyone had left and there would be a chair waiting for me. I didn't mind the wait, I had plenty of time and so I was the last one off. Twice, I got to the jetway and there was no chair, no airline staff, and the FA just said "Oh, well, wait here" and walked off. In one case, the chair arrived a few minutes later; in the other I eventually walked into the terminal and there was a buggy "waiting" for me which no one had mentioned. At FRA () the 747 parked at a remote stand, I had to navigate a step down of about 16 inches (which put very painful stress on my hip) and then the rest of the stairs to the tarmac, a standing bus ride to the terminal, an escalator, and THEN there was a chair waiting. Yeah, it's a real scam!
Here's a point someone made on the Disability Forum at the time which helped me, and should be made repeatedly when this claim of fraud comes up:
People who absolutely need a wheelchair, who are completely unable to walk or stand, HAVE THEIR OWN WHEELCHAIRS (and usually propel it themselves.) They gate check their chairs and use a special narrow chair to get to their seat on the plane. People who are using the airport chairs are therefore those who simply need some assistance in the airport environment. It should not be surprising, therefore, to see them pick up a bag, walk to the restroom on their own, or walk onto the plane.
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,320
This is a very poor article with superficial and contradictory analysis. On the one hand the author uses emotive terms ("the woman suddenly sprang from her wheelchair" "two huge carry-on bags" "plopped back in the wheelchair" "a nod to the person pushing her") to imply fraudulent behavior. (And again later: "customers in wheelchairs carried giant carry-on bags on their laps").
Now first, presumably these "huge" or "giant" carry-ons were nevertheless within airline limits. So why use such pejorative terms to imply that the passengers are taking advantage? Is it a requirement that someone with a disability is only allowed a tiny carry-on?
Now first, presumably these "huge" or "giant" carry-ons were nevertheless within airline limits. So why use such pejorative terms to imply that the passengers are taking advantage? Is it a requirement that someone with a disability is only allowed a tiny carry-on?
I was a lot younger than the average hip replacement candidate and so I know people thought I was a fraud in the wheelchair. I didn't care; I knew I needed it.
In my 10 flights, I was always told to wait until everyone had left and there would be a chair waiting for me. I didn't mind the wait, I had plenty of time and so I was the last one off. Twice, I got to the jetway and there was no chair, no airline staff, and the FA just said "Oh, well, wait here" and walked off.
And LAX apparently never considered the fact that a connecting passenger would need a chair while they were in the airport. We had a 5-hour connect, they wanted to leave her at the gate those whole 5 hours with no chair! The bathroom (no family bathrooms but she's not the type to freak out about my wheeling her into the men's room) was near the gate but getting there would have been agony for her. I think they would have left her anyway had we not simply refused to vacate the chair until another was produced. (The pusher needed their chair back to help the next passenger. Apparently it was one chair per pusher rather than a pool of chairs.)
Here's a point someone made on the Disability Forum at the time which helped me, and should be made repeatedly when this claim of fraud comes up:
People who absolutely need a wheelchair, who are completely unable to walk or stand, HAVE THEIR OWN WHEELCHAIRS (and usually propel it themselves.) They gate check their chairs and use a special narrow chair to get to their seat on the plane. People who are using the airport chairs are therefore those who simply need some assistance in the airport environment. It should not be surprising, therefore, to see them pick up a bag, walk to the restroom on their own, or walk onto the plane.
People who absolutely need a wheelchair, who are completely unable to walk or stand, HAVE THEIR OWN WHEELCHAIRS (and usually propel it themselves.) They gate check their chairs and use a special narrow chair to get to their seat on the plane. People who are using the airport chairs are therefore those who simply need some assistance in the airport environment. It should not be surprising, therefore, to see them pick up a bag, walk to the restroom on their own, or walk onto the plane.
#19
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NY State
Posts: 212
When I was being treated with chemo, I traveled from NY to AZ. I was exhausted and had difficulty walking long distances, but didn't have the nerve to ask for a wheelchair. Had I, though, I would have been able to stand up and grab my luggage, etc. Especially if it was my hand luggage - those cannot be too large in order to be able to carry it on the plane.
Last edited by Jane42; Jul 24, 2016 at 8:13 pm