Singapore Airlines apologizes for forcing one-armed woman to alter seats: ‘I cried a bit of’

The airline added that because the incident it has reviewed its internal processes and “has taken steps to enhance communication with customers on similar matters.”

Beale told ABC News that an emergency exit seat for her January departures was reserved by a member of the family.

During the booking process, the airline said that passengers who can’t be seated on the emergency exits include pregnant women, people under 15, individuals with babies or individuals who require “special assistance,” in keeping with ABC News.

Beale stated that she didn’t need any help. She added that on her flight from Australia, a cabin crew member approached her and told her to “get out” of her seat “in quite a loud tone, quite frantic and hurried.”

She said she was “surprised” and switched seats along with her partner, considering every part can be wonderful so long as she didn’t sit directly next to the emergency door.

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“At that moment, everyone was looking at us and [could] overhear the conversation,” she told ABC News.

The crew member then told Beale to sit in the row behind him instead.

“I cried a little bit because something so offensive had happened… it was humiliating and depressing,” she said.

“I understand there could also be rules about this, I’m not saying I would like you to take a seat me down in case of an emergency, I’m saying I would like you to treat me like a human being.”

I used to be really upset, hurt and felt slandered due to my disability in front of all these people

Beale alleged that she again experienced discrimination on her flight back to Australia.

“The second time it was probably ten times worse,” she told ABC News.

She said she consulted with staff on the check-in desk about where she could sit on the plane. They confirmed and reissued her ticket, which was still within the plane’s emergency exit row.

She claimed that just before take-off, the worker asked her to indicate her ticket and told her in a rude tone and “without recognizing me as a person” that she had to maneuver to a different seat.

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She added that more staff boarded the plane as she sought explanations as to why she had to alter seats, under the supervision of other passengers.

She claimed that the motive force then pointed to her missing limb, said “well, the issue is clear” and repeated this repeatedly within the presence of other passengers.

“I used to be really upset and hurt and felt vilified due to my disability in front of all these people, and so they were all rushing and everybody was raising their voices and shouting,” Beale told ABC News.

Singapore Airlines has stated that to comply with regulatory requirements, passengers with disabilities, reduced mobility or who’re unable to help on the emergency doors shouldn’t be seated within the emergency exit row.

Emergency exit row seat requirements can be found on the airline’s website and should be checked and accepted on the time of booking.

It also stated that the security of shoppers and employees is its primary priority, and crew are trained to be certain that all flight operations are conducted in accordance with all safety policies and regulations.

The cabin crew found that Beale didn’t meet the security and regulatory requirements to be seated in a row near the emergency exits.

“This decision could have been made during the briefing and communicated to Ms. Beale, and we sincerely apologize that this was not the case. We thank Ms. Beale for kindly agreeing to our request to move seats during taxi, take-off and landing,” the airline said in a press release.

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Beale also filed a criticism through the airline’s post-flight website, to which the airline responded on Feb. 28 with the outcomes of an internal investigation.

The airline previously told ABC News it “takes allegations of discrimination seriously and won’t tolerate any type of discrimination or harassment” and conducted an intensive investigation following Beale’s criticism.

It said its crew acted resulting from a “potential safety issue” and “interactions could have been expedited resulting from time constraints in preparing the aircraft for departure.”

Singapore Airlines added that employees received further customer training following the criticism.