4-Year-Old Son Was Required To Remove Leg Braces To Clear Security

Nearly a year after the fact, TSA has issued an apology to a Pennsylvania family who says their physically-challenged son was required to remove his leg braces before clearing security on a trip to Florida last March.

An article appearing last week in The Philadelphia Enquirer told the story of Ryan Thomas, who was traveling to Walt Disney World last March with his parents, Bob and Leona Thomas of Camden, PA. The boy, then just over 4 years old, is developmentally challenged due to a premature birth. He wears leg braces, and at the time was just learning to walk. Mr. Thomas told the Enquirer that a TSA agent had required the family to remove Ryan's leg braces, and that he had to walk through the metal detector on his own.

He managed to accomplish that short walk, but the family felt the situation could have been handled differently.

The Associated Press reports that TSA issued an apology to the family last Friday. TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said the agency had no reason not to believe the family's story, and that there are indeed other ways to screen passengers with leg braces.

FMI: www.tsa.gov