Re: Have you flown with a Elec. chair?

[Guest guest]

Not taking a electric on board. having one ready for me at the airports and

hotel.

Have you called the airline that you have your flight?

They MUST have detailed information for you.

Have you tried to ask for a supervisor and then THEIR supervisor.

This should not be this hard as I am sure it happens all the time.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Debbi

So. Cal. EDSer, in the Pink!

Have you flown with a Elec. chair?

Any of you taken your electric chair on a plane? I'm having trouble getting

the info I need. I have called the airlines and looked online and I still

have questions.

1. It has to fit in the door of cargo, well how big is the door?

2. all parts must be labeled, How, with what?

3. What do I do with the battery charger?

4. Some chairs are allowed in the passenger area in a chair space, well

which chairs? How do I get to be one of those? I want my eye on this if

possible.

5. They want me to have instructions on how to dissemble the chair if

necessary....

now that would make me nervous.

6. I'm worried about damage to a $19,000 chair. Can I get insurance, just

for like a

month and drop it? I can't afford the year price amount.

The problem is this chair is very tall. The top of the back is 45 " off the

floor. And there is a removable head rest that goes on. Any body know any

of these answers?

Cindylouwho.

[Guest guest]

Hi Cindy,

Travelling by plane with a wheelchair can be a

very frustrating thing, but it doesn't have to be

at all. What is important, is to be well

prepared...

With a power chair there are quite a few things

to think about. First a couple of simple, yet

important things you can do.

From the manufacturer, I got two bright yellow

stickers to put on the chair, that states what

kind of batteries the chair has according to

airline regulations. To be sure they don't pick

things apart needlessly (I have gel batteries).

I also made 1 page with large letters (short and

easy to understand text), instructions of how to

handle my chair, what they need to do (and NOT).

Including info about special functions. E.g. my

joystick is programmed " the opposite way " so that

forwards means backwards - important to know.

Also where to find the main power button to shut

it down without disconnecting the battery, and

the one to release the wheels with so they can

push it manually - I have also put on sticker

labels by those points, with arrows pointing to

where they are so it is really easy for them

since I know that they often break things because

they are not used to a certain model and have to

do things fast. So I do everything I can to

prevent such things from happening. Copied it

onto bright colored paper, laminated it and made

a elastic band fastener on it, so I fastened it

highly visible on the front of the chair back.

Could put on two to be sure too. I fastened this

when I left the chair with them. I also included

a line at the botton " Please handle my chair with

great care, I depend on it to be able to enjoy my

trip " or something like that. I also think that

such a note makes it less " just a thing " (maybe

we should put our picture on the note too? I am

not kidding!). I don't know if it makes a

difference, but I do know that I have got mine

back without one scratch... The reason why I put

this on, was that I can't forget how it was when

we were in Tampa for the conference, so many had

their chairs destroyed by the airline... Really

bad damages... Tamar Freudmann's chair was still

not in order 1 year later. She was without it for

almost 6 months, with a bad replacement chair

from the airline which she really could not

use... Now that seems like a huge nightmare!!! So

do whatever you can to make sure they are

careful, even if they have to pay for the

damages, you don't want any grief. The first time

I travelled with mine, I also added " Please, this

is brand new and means so much to me " or

something like that... The more they feel like

this is part of the body to a real person ( " Be

Careful with My Legs " ), the more likely it is

that they show you the respect you are entitled

too, I think... But again, this is just my

personal opinion, and I can't know if it would

work in the US, but it can't hurt to try, can it?

When I have travelled abroad (never to the US)

with my power chair, I have brought both that and

a manual one. The reason is that most

airlines/airports make you give them the chair

already when you are checking in. I can't handle

hours in awful airport chairs. So I have my

manual one with me also, to use at the airport,

and take that to the airplane door, and they put

it either into the cabin or take it down and

bring it up again when I arrive, either to my

final destination or to any airport where I am

going to be in transit.

1. My power chair has a really high back/neck

rest. Is that the case with Dylan's chair? Cargo

doors vary from one type of airplane to another.

Domestically I normally fly by Boeing 737's.

These have a door that is way too low for my

chair. But what I do, is that I use the seat tilt

to lay it back and then also use the recline

function, so that it gets low enough. Maybe you

have to call the airline to ask what kind of

plane you will be going on, and how things work

then.

2. I am not sure what they mean by labelling. It

might be that all parts that can come loose, must

have name/address on them. But also the labelling

I mention above, with the sticker info. about

that particular chair. You can call the

wheelchair company and ask if they have such

stickers to give to you.

3. What I have one with the battery charger, is

to put it in an accessory bag I got with my

wheelchair, and I have strapped it to the back of

the chair, and labelled it " Battery Charger for

Wheelchair " . That way it has also been out of

the way for me during the travel, and i did not

need to take up space/weight in my luggage for

it. And it has been easy for them to check if

they wanted to re. security etc. I have used

ordinary baggage straps, shorter ones that you

can use in your car, on a motorbike etc. and also

those elastic cords with hooks. Just make sure

that everything is fastened well so it can't come

off, but at the same time as it is easy to get to

for them to check (not in a box taped shut).

4. The chairs allowed in the passenger area in a

chair space is the small manual ones. I have had

my rigid frame one in there, as well as in the

steward's closet in the plane. Mine is not a

collapsible one, but a sporty, lightweight one,

see it here (the one to the right)

http://www.panthera.se/index-eng.html

5. How to dissemble the chair. That is not

necessary, unless it is a really small plane, but

you should be able to either find the info in the

manual for the chair, or get it from the

manufacturer/wheelchair company. Make a list like

I mentioned above, laminate it and hang it on the

chair.

6. Damage is a real worry, re. what I said above.

The airline is responsible for the damage they do

though, as far as I know. You shouldn't need to

get insurance for that. They normally also

provide a chair to borrow, but you can't expect

to get one like the one you have, and that is a

real problem with EDS, because we need good shock

absorbers, good seating etc. But ask the airline

about the rules they have, just in case.

You may be able to remove the head rest, but you

can also solve the problem like I do... But ask

the airline if that is OK by them, it has been

here... Going to Spain, the Canary Islands.

I can add that it was wonderful to travel to

Lanzarote. They begged me to use the power chair

at the airport and drive it straight into the

airplane. They let me and one other person I was

travelling with, go to the plane in one of those

lift trucks they have, lifted it to one of the

aircraft doors, and I drove straight into the

plane. Then they drove it back in the truck,

lifted it straight down " one floor " to the cargo

door and drove it in there, turned it off - and

that was it. They did not disconnect a thing.

They handle a lot of wheelchairs because of rehab

facilities there, so they are really good at

this, and they have found that doing it this way,

is the easiest for both them and passengers as

well as no risk for damage on chairs!!! How about

sending all the US airline people for a course

there???

I just found the first note I made, and I will

type it below. I had text in Norwegian plus some

in English as well as Spanish (a colleague did it

for me). I will try to my best ability to

translate the Norwegian part to English, hope I

use the right words... Any of you are of course

free to copy the text (fix if needed) and use it

yourself if you can use it. I also had a contact

phone number on it to the assistive device

central here in Norway, where they could call if

they had any doubts about something. A number to

the wheelchair company where you got your chair

may be an idea, e.g. to their tech support line?

Hope this can be of at least some help...

hugs,

Aase Marit

LAMINATED INFORMATION NOTICE ABOUT HANDLING OF CHAIR:

(The two capital letter notes at the top I

printed on other colors of paper, to stand out -

you of course have to adapt this to your chair

and where these things are located. I also used

bold letters etc., but that does not work on the

list, I think)

MAIN POWER SWITCH NB! JOYSTICK PROGRAMMED

ON BACK OF CHAIR " BACKWARDS "

(SEE ARROWS/LABEL) Forward = Reverse

DISCONNECTION/FREEING Backwards = Forward

DRIVE WHEELS - SWITCH

ON LEFT FRONT OF CHAIR

(SEE ARROWS/LABEL)

IATA - APPROVED BATTERIES FOR AIRLINE TRANSPORTATION

The wheelchair has valve regulated, non-spillable

batteries, and is according to manufacturer

approved by the IATA for transport by aircraft as

part of wheelchair transportation.

Disconnection of battery poles is not necessary

or adequate if main power switch is turned off.

Any questions can be addressed to (wheelchair company name/ phone#)

BATTERY IS NON-SPILLABLE AS DEFINED IN IATA

DANGEROUS GOODS REGULATION PACKING INSTRUCTIONS

806, SPECIAL PROVISIONS A67.

Spanish:

IATA baterías aceptadas para transporte aéreo.

Esta silla de ruedas está equipada con baterías

reguladas por valvulas de tal manera que nunca se

descargan. Según el proveedor dichas baterías son

reconocidas para el transporte aéro y su uso en

silla de ruedas.

NO ES NECESARIO " DUSENCHUFAR " LOS POLOS DE LA

BATERíA SI EL INTERRUPTOR PRINCIPAL SE APAGA.

La batería es NON-SPILLABLE según IATA Dangerous

Goods Regulation Packing instructions 806,

Special Privisions A67.

>Any of you taken your electric chair on a plane?

>I'm having trouble getting the info I need. I

>have called the airlines and looked online and I

>still have questions.

>

>1. It has to fit in the door of cargo, well how big is the door?

>2. all parts must be labeled, How, with what?

>3. What do I do with the battery charger?

>4. Some chairs are allowed in the passenger area

>in a chair space, well which chairs? How do I

>get to be one of those? I want my eye on this if

>possible.

>5. They want me to have instructions on how to

>dissemble the chair if necessary....

>now that would make me nervous.

>6. I'm worried about damage to a $19,000 chair.

>Can I get insurance, just for like a

>month and drop it? I can't afford the year price amount.

>

>The problem is this chair is very tall. The top

>of the back is 45 " off the floor. And there is

>a removable head rest that goes on. Any body

>know any of these answers?

>Cindylouwho.

>

>

[Guest guest]

http://www.shanj.org/News/wheelchair.htm

http://www.oif.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Flying

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/382SHORT.htm

http://www.dlrp.org/html/guide_to/acaa.html

[Guest guest]

http://www.shanj.org/News/wheelchair.htm

http://www.oif.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Flying

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/382SHORT.htm

http://www.dlrp.org/html/guide_to/acaa.html

[Guest guest]

http://www.shanj.org/News/wheelchair.htm

http://www.oif.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Flying

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/382SHORT.htm

http://www.dlrp.org/html/guide_to/acaa.html