I was not aware of that.
You could very well be right.
He wouldn’t need any medical personnel to accompany him on board.
Unless you can get him on a private jet, the trip is likely to be *more *arduous than an airline trip. Smaller planes, with piston engines are much slower and have much less ability to get around rough weather. And that’s after the difficulty of getting on and off the plane, even if it *is *a jet. Even the most lavish general aviation facility is going to involve stairs.
I really think he’s best off with you going for all the sympathy you can get from the airline, be nice to them and make them *want *to help him, and just leave extra time for the trip. Don’t be shy about asking, just be nice.
I once traveled back to Chicago from FL after shattering my tibia and fibula in several pieces in FL. It was…not fun.
How did we handle it? We hired a medical transport company on the FL end, with a wheelchair. The airline was very helpful in facilitating boarding outside the crush of other people, and in letting me have a bulkhead seat so I could keep my leg up (no easy task, especially the Monday after Thanksgiving with the throngs of people, and me in a cast up to my hip).
On the Chicago end, there was a special narrow wheelchair to get me up the aisle, and another medical transport company with a stretcher to take me from O’Hare straight to the ER (which already knew I was coming because we’d called ahead from FL).
Other than the shattered leg bones, though, I was young and basically healthy, and my options were basically either this horrendous trip home, or staying in FL for several months for surgery and recovery. I chose the former.
If you (or another healthy adult) is willing to accompany him, couldn’t you just buy, or rent, a wheelchair for him so you’re not at the mercy of airport wheelchair attendants? A nice, comfy one with padded seat cushions rather than the random airport ones? And I bet there are ways to have security screening facilitated under these circumstances.
In any case, good luck.
He can do stairs, just not quickly. But you’re right about a small plane being less comfortable and taking longer, too.
He is a complete charmer and everyone who comes in contact with him wants to help him. Getting him to let them is another matter. He’s ferociously independent. Getting the airline on his side won’t be a problem.
Depends on the airplane and the person in question. I have a spouse with mobility issues so this isn’t new to me. As a general rule, wider doors are better. Some people find low wing airplanes easier to get into and out of than high wing airplanes but really, you sort of have to try it out.
I find that small, private planes have more leg room than the airlines these days, and certainly less chance of someone reclining into your face.
Johnny, you are failing to consider everything else involved with flying these days. Like security lines 2, 3 or even more hours long which would surely tax the stamina of the gentleman in question. Then there’s the time involved getting to an airport hub. Depending on where he is, even with a slow private piston plane the total trip time, door to door, might well be less than if he flew commercial these days.
The private plane might take six hours, but if the airlines involve a 3 hour trip from curb through security to the gate, followed by a 2-3 hour flight… you’re not saving much if any time.
Really? * ::: thinks over 10 years of flying small, private planes :::* Um, no. Plenty of airports entirely without stairs. In fact, I’d say more common than not. And “lavish” may not be ideal. A set up like my local airport where either someone can park then walk maybe 30 feet to a waiting airplane or, with permission, drive all the way to said airplane (someone will have to drive the car back to the parking lot for storage while you’re gone), no stairs involved, but also no TSA security lines involved, might work out best.
If you go through airports that have commercial travel you might need a trip through security… or you might not… but if you stick to strictly general aviation airports you skip the whole TSA dog-and-pony show. And they might be closer to your start and destination points, too.
Inquire with AngelFlight. I’ve recommended them several times and only once was someone turned down - they were told that the medical situation was too complex and they should hire an air ambulance, which they did.
Thanks, Broomstick. Your comments are very welcome.
Don’t forget about oxygen use if needed for the altitude he will be at in an unpressurized plane.
I was the donated pilot on an Aerostar 601 which was donated with a third guy paying for the fuel to get a lady up to Erie PA…
Have hauled several friends around for free.
I have been my own pilot to get me to medical help. Does that count?
I have had flights turn into a medical flight without warning. Nobody had to pay anybody for anything.
What if the patient’s spouse or parent was a nurse or doctor? I’m assuming they have an exemption for that?
Huh? What’s the logic here?
What liability issues?
The pilot and the airline are providing you a service..But that’s all they do: provide transportation…They are not doctors, and they don’t give you any professional medical care.
If you die during the flight, how can they be guilty of malpractice, or whatever?
(Analogy: If a pregnant woman feeling labor pains takes a taxi to the hospital, is the taxi driver responsible for her health? )
And what business is it of the pilot, whether a licensed doctor accompanies you? Surely the doctor is personally responsibile for any medical care he gives you during the flight, not the pilot. How can the pilot or airline have any liablity?
(again, my anaology: if the pregnant woman in the taxi is accompanied by a doctor, and she gives birth in the taxi while the doctor treats her, is the taxi driver liable for anything?
What am I not understanding?
If the flights don’t pan out an air conditioned RV and team of 2 drivers might be of interest. He’d have to like road trips. It would be approx. 2 days there and 2 days back.
1400 - 1600 miles from TX to MD.
I was including the ones to get on the plane. No way to avoid that unless there’s a jetway, or somebody carries you.
Er… most of the airplanes I’ve flown were like either getting into a car, or onto a motorcycle. No stairs required. I have a couple friends who used to do Angelflights in Cessna Cardinals, Skymasters, and Mooneys, none of which require a stairway or “jetway” to board or disembark.
There are pilots who need wheelchairs to get around on the ground. They seem to favor Piper Cherokees. From what I’ve seen, they pull themselves from their chair onto the wing, fold up the chair, pull it onto the wing next to them, pull themselves into the plane, then pull the wheelchair in after them. And if someone in a wheelchair can get him/herself in and out of the airplane on their own you definitely don’t need stairs. (Obviously, their airplanes have hand controls, available for many models of Pipers and Cessnas.)
Some people/businesses do make their larger small planes available for such transport as well, business jets and such, but a lot of medical flights using small airplanes are using 4 and 6 seaters that are low to the ground when they’re on their wheels.
Cessnas have a step on the landing gear leg that you need to climb into the cockpit. (Or do as I do and stand in front of the leg and take one giant step in.) Cherokees have a step so you can climb up onto the wing, and then you have to step down into the cockpit. This is problematic for me since I’ve lost my left patellar tendon and getting in on the starboard side requires using the left leg. I can only assume a Mooney would be similar. Either way, you do need some agility to get into a small airplane. As I said, a Cherokee Six or a Stationair would be easier because of the rear passenger doors.
My friend walks with crutches and can manage stairs. In fact, he generally eschews the elevator to get to his second floor office. (Did I mention he was very independent?) He would only need a wheelchair to get through a humongous commercial airport.
I told him I was researching this, and he said he’d be fine with flying in a small plane. 
Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions.
I just want to add that going from Texas to Baltimore by commercial airlines probably involves a layover. If you factor in the time wait times and the layover, there may be very little difference in the door-to-door times between commercial and private options.
If he goes commercial, he should have a companion, if possible–someone who can run get him a snack during a layover or hold his carry-on bag while he goes to the restroom. Maybe he can do those things on his own, but for a frail, easily fatigued person in pain, travel can be exhausting. And once he gets to Baltimore, he’ll still need to get to John Hopkins and possibly a hotel.
Best of luck to your friend, ThelmaLou. He’s lucky to have you.
Since this is a three year old zombie I’d be interested in how things turned out for ThelmaLou’s friend.