Terminally ill passenger removed from Israeli flight

Airline Industry Information, March 24, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

A terminally ill patient was taken off an El Al Israel Airlines flight to Russia after extensive questioning, his lawyer said on Wednesday (23 March).

The 23-year-old, suffering from liver cancer, flew to Israel to investigate the possibility of treatment. Because doctors determined that they could not help him, he decided to fly back to St. Petersburg, reported Army Radio.

The man was subjected to a detailed check of his documents and medical equipment at Israel's international airport before boarding the aircraft, but then he was told to leave the flight. He was cleared to leave on a later flight.

According to El Al a patient must notify the airline of his condition before a flight so that adequate preparations can be made, and this was not done, Army Radio reported.

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