Special needs passengers must bring own safety seats / 抱腦麻兒搭機受阻 依規須坐安全座椅　　　　　　　　　　

A family traveling to Penghu with a 16 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy has complained of mistreatment from airline staff. The daughter weighs only 12 kilograms and has no physical strength to support herself, so her father wanted to hold her in his lap, but was stopped from doing so, because existing safety regulations mandate that all passengers over the age of two, have to take their own seat with the seatbelt fastened. As a result, the daughter had no choice but to sit alone in a regular seat, which is quite dangerous as she is physically unable to support her own weight. The airline says it will look into providing better safety solutions, such as adult safety seats, for the family in the future. A family wanted to visit their relatives in Penghu, with their daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy. Their daughter is 16 and weighs just 12 kilograms and is just 110 centimeters in height. She has no physical strength and cannot hold up her head. The parents wanted to hold her in their lap on the plane. However, they did not check with the airline before they set out. According to airline safety regulations any person over the age of 2 must wear a safety belt and sit in a seat. As there was no special safety seat for the girl, she had to be placed in a standard seat, which the parents found distressing. ==MR. HU== She doesn't have any strength in her back. This special safety seat secures her at the hips, and at the back and at her head. So how can she sit in a seat by herself ? Mr. Hu said in 2013 they took her to Japan and had to leave the plane due to safety regulations. In the end the Civil Aeronautics Administration recognized that she was comparable to a baby and allowed her parents to hold her, so that they could take a flight. In September they tried to take a Mandarin Airlines flight and came across the same problem again. The CAA said that in line with international standards, any person over the age of two must wear a seat belt and sit in a seat. If passengers have special needs, international regulations allow them to use safety seats. ==HAN CHEN-HUA CAA Transport Section== The reason for sitting in a seat with a seat belt is because during flight there is often turbulence. If passengers do not have the safety belt fastened, they may be thrown around and be injured and injure others on the flight. Mandarin Airlines said it currently does not have special needs safety seats and with most international airlines, passengers bring these themselves. After discussion, in the future the airline was willing to offer a special safety seat to the Hu family. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 原本開心要帶著孩子回澎湖老家，但胡先生真的好無奈，因為16歲患有重度腦性麻痺，身高有110公分體重12公斤的女兒，頭部和身體都沒有支撐力，不如3個月嬰兒，想抱著她搭機，卻因民航法規要求，超過2歲的乘客，飛機起降需在座位上繫好安全帶，導致女兒沒有安全座椅情況下，必須忍受被固定在機位上，讓他們相當不捨。 ==腦麻兒家屬 胡先生== 她沒有自己腰背那麼強的能耐 我們這樣的特殊座椅 都要有骨盆帶 都要有背夾 那還有保護頭 那她怎麼有辦法自己坐呢 胡先生表示，2013年夫妻倆曾帶著女兒搭國籍航空到日本，首度因法令要求而被迫下機，最後民航局出面認定孩子的體形如嬰兒，允許夫婦倆抱著搭機才順利出國，沒想到今年9月搭華信時，再度碰到搭機困境，民航局表示，要求2歲以上乘客要坐在有安全帶的座椅，與國際的作法一致，如果有腦麻等特殊旅客搭乘，國際上允許坐安全座椅。 ==民航局空運組組長 韓振華== 為什麼一定要坐的原因是因為 就是 在飛機上 可能常常會遇到那種 晴空亂流 如果沒有綁好安全帶的時候 他的這個旅客 可能會被拋起來 掉下來可能自己會受傷 第二個 可能也會 砸傷其他同機的旅客 而華信航空也發出聲明表示，公司目前並未提供安全座椅，是與大多數國際、國籍航空一樣，由旅客自行攜帶合格及合適的安全裝備，經過協調，未來華信願意協助及提供胡小妹適用輔具，提供更完善的服務。 記者 吳雅瑜 林國煌 台北報導