TUI Passenger With Broken Ankle Prevented From Flying, Spends Hours On Airport Floor

A TUI passenger was forced to spend 17 hours on the airport floor after the airline staff prevented him from flying with a broken ankle. Ross Snowdon, on his way back to Newcastle from Hartlepool, could not board the airline irrespective of carrying a doctor’s approval.

Snowdon, 30, sprained his ankle from a fall while he was holidaying with his partner in Tenerife. After the event which occurred on Aug. 14, he had to spend 11 hours at the University Hospital of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Tenerife, and obtained a letter from his doctor allowing him to travel.

The written letter in Spanish clearly stated that Snowdon can return to his country as he had planned. To his greatest dismay, the airline staff termed the letter an unofficial document, when he tried to board his 8:30 pm TUI flight back home to Newcastle on Aug. 16.

Snowdon flayed the airline in his Facebook post, saying, “"They wouldn’t let us fly home last night due to us not having a ‘fit to fly’ document even though I had the letter from the hospital which specifically states we can fly."

He further said, "So after that they didn’t even bother looking for another flight for us to get home or didn’t look to book us in the hotel for the night, they just left us to sleep the full night on the airport floor even though I have a broken leg. Worst night of my life I am absolutely gobsmacked at how we’ve been treated to be honest. Please share."

The Sun Online Travel quoted him as saying, “They said it was not official even though the doctor who I got the fit to fly off said he doesn’t know why they haven't accepted it."

The couple, in tears, complained about ill-treatment, saying the authorities extended no support while they were forced to miss their flight.

Snowdon, an engineer for the Royal Navy, had to hire a taxi and run to a 24-hour doctor's service in the area to secure an official ‘fit to fly’ document for the airline’s approval. He even had to exhaust money on new flight tickets, he said.

A TUI spokesperson released a statement saying Snowdon was denied boarding as there were no spare seats in the flight, Sun Online Travel reported.