TSA has made a number of blunders lately when it comes to passengers with disabilities. Last week, a few new incidents occured including a young deaf passenger who alleges TSA agents belittling him and stealing his candy.
He was on his way to a conference in Louisville and stated that the agents stole his candy and ate it in front of him. According to reason.com,The deaf individual posted this statement on his blog, which has since been removed, about the incident, "They went through my bag (for no reason), and found a couple bags of candy I brought. I was told I wasn't allowed to fly with that ... I was then asked if I would like to donate the candy "To the USO". Since I know the airport there has an Air National Guard base, and I figured it would go to the soldiers, I (annoyed) said sure, why not? The guards, as I was getting scanned, started eating the candy they just told me was for the soldiers. In front of me, still laughing at me (very clearly now)."
The Huffington Post stated that TSA issued a statement on its blog denying that the deaf passenger was mistreated and commented that there was no photo evidence. "After a review of the video, TSA found no footage that matches the information in the blog post, such as Officers removing food during any bag search and eating it, or anything to indicate that they were pointing at and ridiculing a passenger," said the post.
The second incident that triggered concern was when a cancer patient on his way to Disneyland last week had his prosthetic leg screened. A leaked photo of the incident provoked widespread outrage.
This is not the first time TSA has been under fire for alleged mistreatments. In May A seven year old child, Dina Frank, was aggressively screened by a TSA agent, causing her family to miss the flight. The flight was scheduled to leave from JFK Airport in New York to Florida, when TSA agents insisted on further searching her at the checkpoint because she had crutches.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
