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Senior with impaired mobility died after falling down escalators after making his own way into the terminal at a London airport

People board an EasyJet flight at Gatwick Airport

Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images

  • An 82-year-old man with mobility issues has died after falling down an escalator at Gatwick airport.
  • The ambulance services were called to the airport at 12:50 pm on June 15, but the man died at the scene. 
  • Last week the airport came under fire for leaving a disabled passenger stranded on a flight for 95 minutes. 

 

An 82-year-old man with mobility issues has died after he fell down an escalator at Gatwick airport after disembarking an easyJet flight, airport officials confirmed.

The currently unidentified man was waiting to be assisted off the flight by Wilson James services, the company used by Gatwick Airport to help disabled passengers off airplanes. 

Gatwick Airport, also known as London Gatwick, is a major international airport serving the UK’s capital.

Wilson James told Insider that the employee assigned to his flight was helping three people disembark the plane, two of whom needed wheelchairs.

When this staff member was wheeling a passenger from the plane to the airport and therefore was unavailable for the 82-year-old, he disembarked the flight with a group of passengers.

While traveling through the airport with a group of fellow passengers with limited mobility, the man fell down an escalator, Gatwick airport and Wilson James have told Insider. 

“Staff shortages were not a factor in this incident, as has been claimed. It is normal for one staff member to disembark three passengers who require assistance by taking them one at a time the short distance to the waiting buggy,” a Gatwick airport spokesperson told The Guardian.

Sussex police have confirmed to Insider that the ambulance services were called to the airport at 12:50 pm on June 15, where the man died at the scene. 

They also added that the death is not being treated as suspicious. 

EasyJet told Insider that, “a number of our cabin crew provided medical assistance to a passenger in the airport terminal building at Gatwick while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Unfortunately, the passenger sadly later passed away. Our thoughts are with their family and friends at this difficult time.”

In a statement to Insider, a Gatwick Airport spokesperson said, “This is a sad and tragic incident, and our thoughts remain with the family of the deceased.  

“A formal investigation is currently underway, and it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

Wilson James and Gatwick airport have recently come under criticism after Victoria Brignell, a 45-year-old wheelchair user was stranded on a British Airways flight for 95 minutes when staff failed to turn up to assist her off the plane.

 


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