The family of a San Diego boy with muscular dystrophy is calling on American Airlines to change the way it handles equipment after they say his wheelchair was destroyed on a cross-country flight.
Eleven-year-old Skyler Evans was on board a flight from Dallas and checked his power wheelchair. When he and his family landed in San Diego on Tuesday night, they said it was broken.
“It’s my way of getting around, keeping up with people, going to school,” Skyler said. “And they just destroyed it."
In response, an American Airlines spokesman apologized for the ordeal, but noted the airline wasn’t sure whether the wheelchair was damaged by airline staff or during the TSA screening.
It wasn’t clear how the wheelchair was damaged.
The spokesman, Ross Feinstein, said the airline has offered to provide a loaner wheelchair while Skyler’s chair undergoes repairs.
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He said the airline plans to cover the costs of the repairs and deliver the wheelchair to Skyler.
Still, Skyler is upset the wheelchair was damaged in the first place.
“We need it, but if it’s broken, we can’t use it,” he said.
