Audio By Carbonatix
An Australian woman has demonstrated the abelism people with disabilities face when traveling in a video that has outraged viewers.
Natalie Curtis, from Queensland, Australia, had been aboard the Australian airline Jetstar from Townsville to Bangkok with a layover in Singapore when the incident took place.
In an interview with 7NEWS' breakfast show "Sunrise," Curtis explained that she had been offered a standard aisle wheelchair to board in Singapore, but not when she arrived in Thailand.
The disabled woman was forced to crawl off the plane after an airline tried to charge her for a wheelchair.
Curtis claimed that the airline told her she would have to pay to use another wheelchair to disembark from the plane.
After the airline representatives for Jetstar informed Curtis of the charge, she refused.
Curtis pointed out that she had never been asked to pay for accessibility while traveling before.
“When we arrived (staff) were asking us to actually pay and I didn’t really comprehend it, and I’m like, ‘No, I’m not paying to be able to get off this plane,’” Curtis told “Sunrise.”
With no other options left, Curtis was forced to crawl down the aisle of seats toward the exit of the aircraft.
"They all just sat around for a while and the option that was left was for me to get on the floor and crawl,” Curtis continued.
The entire incident had been recorded by Curtis' friend, Natasha Efford, who had been traveling with her friend.
While speaking to 7NEWS, Efford admitted that she wanted to carry Curtis toward the exit of the plane, but was unable to due to a knee injury.
"I just felt really sorry for Natalie … I just felt really hopeless and I’m like, ‘I just can’t believe this is really happening,’” Efford told the news outlet.
Curtis acknowledged that the dispute between her and the airline may have been because of the language barrier.
Per 7NEWS, airline officials were reportedly informed that an aisle wheelchair was unavailable for at least 40 minutes after the flight arrived in Bangkok.
According to the report, Curtis brought her own wheelchair on the flight, but it was too large to fit in the cabin.
"[Staff] did obviously try to offer to lift her up and carry her, but if they dropped her [Curtis] that would [have been] 10 times worse,” Elford recalled.
However, a representative for Jetstar told 7NEWS that they had never requested payment from Curtis to use a wheelchair.
"We unreservedly apologize to Ms. Curtis for her recent experience while traveling with us,” the spokesperson said.
“Regrettably, this was not the case for Ms. Curtis following a miscommunication that resulted in the delay of an aisle chair being made available at the gate on arrival and we are looking into what happened as a matter of urgency."
Despite the airline offering Curtis a refund and other compensation for her troubles, she remained adamant about never flying with Jetstar again.
"I definitely don’t want anyone else to go through what I had to go through," she vowed.
Latest Stories
-
Six Ghanaian students at Loughborough University protest unpaid government scholarship funding
26 seconds -
Agotime-Ziope traditional leaders honour health minister for advancing healthcare delivery
40 seconds -
COCOBOD CEO calls for greater trust, unity in Ghana–Côte d’Ivoire cocoa partnership
10 minutes -
Mahama expected in Abidjan for high-level cocoa summit with Côte d’Ivoire
25 minutes -
Today’s Front pages: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
45 minutes -
Africa has right policies for Agri-Food Systems transformation but lacks capacity to implement them
54 minutes -
Fuel prices fall as some OMCs cuts petrol to GH¢13.87 per litre
1 hour -
Japan raises interest rate to highest since 1995
1 hour -
€106m water project moves closer as GWCL begins stakeholder consultations in Savannah Region
2 hours -
India blocks Telegram messaging app until June 22, government says
2 hours -
Cocoa farmers spared another blow as gov’t rejects price cut despite global slump – COCOBOD
2 hours -
While Côte d’Ivoire cuts cocoa prices, Ghana holds the line to protect farmers – COCOBOD
3 hours -
‘We had to save the sector’ – COCOBOD defends unprecedented cocoa price intervention
3 hours -
Sophia Akuffo didn’t resign over Torkornoo’s removal – Kwakye Ofosu
3 hours -
Government ends diesel fuel relief ahead of June pricing window
3 hours