"Not one ounce of compassion”: BBC star kicked off plane over daughter's allergy
A BBC weather presenter and her family have been kicked off a plane after asking passengers to be wary of her daughter's peanut allergy.
British weather presenter Georgie Palmer was flying from London to Turkey with her husband Matt and their daughters Annie and Rosie, as the family boarded their flight at Gatwick Airport with SunExpress airlines.
Georgie and her family were kicked off the plane shortly after boarding, after the 49-year-old mother ran into issues around her daughter's severe allergy to peanuts.
According to Palmer, she has requested that the captain make an announcement to all passengers asking them not to eat any peanut products on the flight, but the pilot refused.
Palmer then took matters into her own hands and one by one asked passengers not to consume peanuts on the four-hour flight, before being asked to disembark the aircraft.
The weather presenter took to Instagram to share her side of the story with a lengthy post.
She began, “I thanked the beautiful souls on our plane for helping us. Many of them hugged, cheered and held our hands as we were forced to disembark."
“The SunExpress captain and cabin crew refused to make the standard announcement on behalf of our daughter. We gently asked the passengers at the front of the plane to share our request."
“Row by row, all the passengers turned back to kindly ask the row behind to please not eat nuts on the flight. It was calm, earnest and with an overwhelming sense of solidarity and empathy.”
Georgie added: “There’s no beef with simple asks like these. People get it!"
“We were hoofed off the plane after the angry little captain shouted at us from the cockpit.”
She concluded by saying they were discriminated against for “simply having an allergy”.
Georgie told the Daily Mail, “The captain decided because of my daughter’s allergy he didn’t want to fly with her on board."
“When he found out I had spoken to the other passengers he was screaming at me from the cockpit. He was so angry, the next thing I knew we were told to get off the plane."
“How we were treated was disgusting – nobody working on that plane showed one ounce of compassion.”
A SunExpress spokesman then shared the airline's version of events, claiming that Georgie's husband had become aggressive, and kicked the family off the plane with their best interests at heart.
The statement said, “We take the safety of our passengers very seriously. Shortly after boarding our flight, the passenger raised a concern about one of his family group having a serious peanut allergy."
“They requested an announcement to other passengers. We refrain from making these kinds of announcements. Like many other airlines, we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment on our flights, nor can we prevent other passengers from bringing food items containing allergens on board."
“Due to the insistent behaviour of the passenger to others on board, the captain decided it would be safest if the family did not travel."
“When this was explained to the passenger, he behaved aggressively towards our crew members and tried to gain access to the cockpit. To ensure the safety of our crew and our passengers on board, we cannot tolerate aggressive and unruly behaviour on our flights."
“Our website states that passengers must notify us 48 hours in advance of any special care required due to a medical condition. No such notification was received from the passengers in this instance.”
According to The Sun, Mr Sollom denies acting aggressively.
The differing versions of events have divided many on social media as thousands weighed in on the debacle, with plenty of users siding with the pilot.
“The pilot is a national treasure,” one person wrote.
“As they should have been,” a second wrote, referring to the family getting kicked off.
“Would have booted them off as well,” another agreed.
A fourth wrote: “I think this story would be found under Self Entitlement in the dictionary.”
Image credits: Instagram