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As reported by Kumparan, Shinta uses a wheelchair and is categorized as a passenger with special needs. She said she was told to disembark a Wings Air flight from Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, to Denpasar because she refused to sign the waiver, which specifically stated that it was intended for “sick people” instead of persons with disabilities. 

“I am not sick, I am a person with disabilities,” Shinta wrote in one of her posts on Facebook. “I was humiliated and pushed by the officers. This is an extremely inhumane treatment.” 

Shinta said that one of the airline’s officers allegedly told her that “she doesn’t appear like a person with disabilities” because she wasn’t missing any limbs. 

She was first asked to sign the waiver form during check-in but was still given a boarding pass even though she’d refused. Once she was on board the flight, she says a flight attendant once again tried to force her to sign the waiver. 

“Because I still refused to sign, I was forced and pushed to disembark from the flight. One of my friends was also pushed by an officer,” Shinta said, adding that no one from Wings Air tried to assume responsibility or assisted them in finding another flight when they returned to the airport. 

Shinta and her friends were able to return to Denpasar with a NAM Air flight, which, according to her, had correctly asked her to sign a form for passengers with disability. 

“I am more than happy to sign these forms as I don’t waive my rights in doing so,” Shinta said, emphasizing that she is the same as other passengers and shouldn’t be treated as sick. 

“It is obvious discrimination of persons with disabilities and it has to stop, and I hope this sort of situation doesn’t happen again,” she added. 

Responding to Shinta’s post and description of events, a spokesperson for Lion Air Group, which owns Wings Air, did not dispute that Shinta was not allowed to take the flight because she refused to sign the waiver, nor the fact that the waiver was designated for “sick people”, But he did deny her accusation that she and her friends had been physically pushed off the plane. 

“The passenger decided to disembark from the cabin. Wings Air affirms that during this process, the cabin crew [and] ground officers continued to serve with courtesy and did not physically push the passenger to leave the aircraft,” said Danang Mandala Prihantoro, a spokesman from Lion Air Group, as reported by Kumparan. 

Danang also said Shinta did not specify that she was disabled when she made her reservation for her flight with Wings Air and explained that the officers at the check-in counter had acted according to the airline’s standard of procedure. 

According to Kumparan’s report, Danang said that Shinta and her friends were assisted throughout the process and had been informed they would receive a full refund because they ended up not boarding the flight. 

“Wings Air apologize for the inconvenience that arose … Wings Air is committed to giving the best service,” Danang said.

Read more news and updates from Bali here.