✈️ Artist forced to switch flight

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Sarita Dwivedi, an award-winning physically challenged artist, was allegedly refused by Alliance Air staff to board the flight with her battery-operated wheelchair.

What happened: Initially, the staff told Sarita she was late for boarding as a wheelchair-bound passenger. Later, seeing there was almost an hour to board, they said she could fly but without her wheelchair citing safety concerns.

  • Sarita has been travelling with her wheelchair on flights regularly. Despite her attempts to explain this to the ground staff, the latter refused to budge.

She eventually booked a ticket on a different flight operated by Indigo airlines which took off 3 hours later. Her wheelchair was part of the cargo belly.

What now: Alliance Air has said that they will look further into this matter.

Who is Sarita Dwivedi: She is an Allahabad-born artist. She paints using her mouth. Sarita had lost both her limbs at the age of 4 upon coming in contact with a high-power electric line. Since then, she has won multiple national and international awards for her painting skills.

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