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Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

Note: This document was originally published in 2005, so all references to 14 CFR part 382 herein are hyperlinked to the version that was current at the time of publication (14 CFR Part 382 with amendments issued through July 2003). Click here to view additional versions of this regulation and other publications related to air transportation.

Except in an Emergency Evacuation, No Hand-Carrying Passengers

Under no circumstances – except for emergency evacuations – should you physically pick up a passenger with a disability to provide boarding or deplaning assistance. [Sec. 382.39(a)(2)]

Example: A woman asks for assistance in boarding a flight with 30 seats. General boarding for passengers is by a set of stairs on the tarmac. When she arrives at the gate and asks for boarding assistance, she is provided a boarding wheelchair, but you inform her that the mechanical lift is out of order. The passenger tells you to physically pick her up and carry her up the stairs and onto the plane because she really needs to make the flight. What should you do?

Under the law, you must not physically hand-carry the passenger onto the plane. Hand-carrying is only appropriate in the case of an emergency evacuation. Even though the law states that the passenger must consent to the type of boarding assistance and she has requested to be hand carried, you must not hand-carry her onto the aircraft. Instead, you should contact a CRO for advice about options for alternative means of boarding the passenger, e.g., carrying the boarding wheelchair, with the passenger in it, up the stairs and onto the plane. Next, you and the CRO should explain to the passenger that, under the law, you are not permitted to physically hand-carry her onto the plane. In addition, you should explore other available options for assisting this passenger with boarding the aircraft, including carrying the passenger onto the plane in a boarding wheelchair or arranging for another flight with a working lift or a jet bridge. If the passenger consents to being carried onto the plane in the boarding wheelchair, you may do so. Regardless, you should notify the appropriate personnel that the mechanical lift is not functioning properly and arrange for repair as quickly as possible.

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