Family kicked off flight for child's 'bomb threat'... but he has Tourette's

The dad of a 13-year-old boy with Tourette's syndrome who was denied on board a British Airways flight after shouting "bomb" has hit out at the airline for leaving his son in tears.

Mason Entwistle and his family were refused access to their Alicante-bound flight by the airline just before they were due to board because of "safety risks".

The devastated schoolboy and his parents Martyn, 39, and Gemma, 36, were then marched back to the terminal by armed police officers at Gatwick Airport.

The family was forced to miss two days of their holiday and needed to rebook their flight with another airline.

Speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty, dad Martyn said: "We booked the flights with British Airways. We rang him before we went and explained everything we could possibly say.

"We explained that there's a very strong chance that he probably would say the word bomb, plane crash, everything that you could think of as linked to an airport.

"There's a high chance he's going to say it, and they were fine. They told us, no problem, don't worry, you go to the accessibility lane."

But when Mason shouted the word "bomb" at the gate, he and his family were told they would have to leave for safety reasons.

Footage taken by Mason's father shows him pleading with the airline's duty manager as the boy is heard crying in the background.

Martyn added: "I think the words were exactly due to being a safety threat to the passengers and a bomb threat to the plane.

"Mason said bomb throughout the whole process of the airport, when we were checking in, when we went through security, when we were in the airport, he said at the gate, and he said it on the plane.

"There were lots of other things that were said as well, but bomb was one of the ones that he'd frequent when they used. He said it throughout the airport so we just can't get heads around.

"Why weren't we pulled aside a lot earlier? But they waited until we got to the very, very door of the plane before they turned us away.

"The worst part after that is obviously Mason's then on the floor crying his eyes out, ticking a lot, apologising to people.

"It's heartbreaking as a parent to hear that sort of thing. Their response to that and the way Mason was, which they could clearly see, was to escort us out with armed officers.

"There was no assistance, no help. We just got as an adult with a policeman with a gun behind."

The family say they weren't offered compensation or be transferred onto an alternative flight.

They instead spent £2,400 on separate flights to southern Spain through Vueling, one of BA's sister airlines.

Praising the journey that they were eventually permitted on, Martyn said: "The captain boarded us first. The duty manager met us before we even went to the gate.

"He chatted to us, the captain came out, gave my wife a big cuddle, went onto the plane, he put us at the back of the plane, blocked out the front row seats in front of us, and then once we were on the plane, he then went into the waiting room and made an announcement to all the other passengers of the situation.

"Then every passenger was absolutely brilliant. Mason's ticks were a lot calmer because he felt relaxed."

Martyn added that he had sympathy for the armed officer "who was just doing his job", but said that he hadn't yet heard from the airline in the aftermath.

A friend of the family, who made the original booking, had submitted a formal complaint.

LBC has contacted BA for comment.

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