Dear Editor, I am writing regarding my Father’s experience falling off the Billings Logan International Airport escalator.
On the 2nd of February, my parents and I returned from a trip to Orlando, Florida. My father is 84 and my mother is 82. They have difficulty walking through airports. The Denver Airport and the Orlando Airport both offered wheelchairs for folks who find it difficult to walk. Both airports met us at the door with wheelchairs and welcomed them by name.
Billings Airport offers a wheelchair for disabled passengers, but they were not available. I preordered their wheelchairs, but they were not available when we arrived at the Billings Airport.
We would have used the elevator in the Billings Airport, but there are no signs directing passengers to an elevator. We have flown in and out of Billings for many years, and I cannot tell you where the elevator is. My father was not able to find the elevator on the day we returned to Billings.
My father is only able to see clearly through one eye. He is not able to judge distance when walking downstairs or when using the steps on an escalator. Why didn’t the security checkpoint notice him walking by? It is easy to see that Dad has a hard time walking. With no good options, he decided to try the escalator. He watched my mom go down the escalator.
Halfway down the escalator, my Dad misjudged his standing position on the escalator step and began to fall forward. He rolled over onto his back, ripped skin from his back and arms, and knocked his head on the way down. He was rocking against the bottom of the escalator when six male passengers ran over to help him move off the escalator onto the floor. His head and arms were bleeding. He was stunned as one of the passengers asked him if he knew who he was and how he was doing. Skin was torn off his arm. Later we found that a bone was broken.
The 911 response team arrived and drove my dad to Billings Clinic. We received NO help from the airport staff. They do not care about the safety of their senior passengers.
I am asking for the following improvements to the Billings Logan International Airport:
Create and implement an emergency response plan for situations where passengers are seriously injured at the airport.
Place CLEAR and EASY to find signs and directions to the elevator. (Why is the elevator so hard to find?)
Create an alternative handicap ramp that people can walk down and avoid stairs or avoid the escalator.
Offer wheelchair support from the drive up outside to the airline gate. Preordered wheelchairs should be assigned and ready for passengers when they arrive at the airport.
Encourage airport staff to help during emergency situations. (Why haven’t the airport staff called to check on my father’s health? OR even offered an apology.)
Dorothea Schueler
Huntley, MT
