41-year-old disability advocate Shane Hryhorec was removed from a Virgin Australia airplane on Monday, August 17, after a dispute with the crew over where a crucial component of his wheelchair should be stored.
The incident left him “upset, angry and humiliated,” he said, adding that experiences like this are why people with special needs have “anxiety” about flying.
Highlights
- Shane Hryhorec accused Virgin Australia of humiliating him by failing to accommodate his wheelchair needs.
- Netizens pushed back on his account, with some calling his behavior “entitled” and “embarrassing.”
- Hryhorec has taken his complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission and is seeking changes from the airline.
Netizens, however, did not share his view, arguing that he was acting entitled.
“He is an experienced traveler and knew what he was doing. He enjoys attention,” one person wrote.
Shane Hryhorec’s video claiming it was the airline’s job to fix the storage issue has gone viral
Hryhorec was involved in a swimming accident in 2007 that resulted in C5 incomplete quadriplegia, a spinal cord injury that left him with limited mobility.
As he boarded a Sydney-to-Adelaide flight earlier this week, he realized there would not be enough legroom if he stored his wheelchair battery by his seat.
He therefore asked the flight attendants for help, asking if it could be kept elsewhere.
He was told that this was not allowed.
Hryhorec explained that he had not chosen a seat with no extra space — it had been assigned to him.
He also pointed out that he had flown with the same airline three times the previous week without any issues, and said it was therefore the airline’s responsibility to resolve the problem if there was one this time.
One of the staff members responded that the other flights “had done the wrong thing” if they accommodated him.
Hryhorec was asked to delete the video he was recording before he was offboarded, but he refused.
Instead, he posted the footage on social media, where it has garnered more than 16 million views.
The video backfired as netizens branded him an attention seeker
“It’s 2026. Disabled passengers shouldn’t have to fight this hard simply to get on a plane and get home,” Hryhorec said in the video.
Instead of amassing sympathy, however, he attracted criticism.
“He wanted an upgrade,” one person observed, while another said, “He should be embarrassed.”
“He got anxious? He is why the rest of us get anxious about seeing people like him on our flights,” a third wrote.
“He could have booked his preferred seat for a few extra dollars. But it seems that he sought attention,” a fourth said.
The comments stood in stark contrast to the airline’s response to the matter.
Virgin Australia apologized for the incident, acknowledging that it had failed to meet its inclusivity standards
The airline called Hryhorec twice between Monday and Wednesday to understand his perspective.
In a statement released after their conversation, Virgin Australia admitted that his experience was below what they expect for their customers.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress and frustration this caused him. We did not meet our own standards in how we handled this situation,” it said.
The airline promised to learn from this experience and “strive” to improve its service.
Hryhorec said it was nice to hear the airline take ownership of the situation.
However, he said he believed the apology was made primarily to protect its reputation, which he described as “a bit disappointing.”
Hryhorec has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and wants to see real-time change
In an interview with The Guardian, Hryhorec said he would not withdraw his human rights complaint despite the airline’s apology.
Only action implemented on the ground would convince him to do so.
“The goal is simple: people with disabilities should be able to fly in Australia without stress and anxiety and burdens put upon them,” he said.
Between 2016 and 2022, the commission received more than 100 disability discrimination complaints against airlines.
The federal government’s 2024 aviation white paper also recognized that people with disabilities face barriers throughout their air travel journey.
“Every touchpoint in the airline industry is ableist,” Hryhorec said.
“Can you imagine if every time you fly, you get a lucky dip and if you pull the wrong dip, you get booted off a plane, or you have your wheelchair damaged? This happens to people with disabilities every day.”
"This is wild," a netizen said about the fiasco
