BBC weather presenter Georgie Palmer and family removed from flight due to daughter’s peanut allergy at Gatwick | Liverpool Echo

A BBC weather presenter claims she and her family were kicked off the flight by the captain.

Georgie Palmer, 49, claimed she and her family were removed from the flight to Turkey after she asked fellow passengers not to eat peanuts because of her daughter’s severe allergy.

The incident happened as they were preparing to leave London Gatwick for Dalaman with her husband Nick Sollom, 48, and their daughters Rosie, 12, and Annie, 14. Palmer claims that even though the crew was told about Rosie’s anaphylactic peanut allergy, they were off the hook. “he got off the plane”.

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She said it was a polite request to other passengers to avoid eating nuts during the flight, which was communicated from row to row in a unit stage. However, the situation escalated when the captain became aware of the allergy and decided he would not fly with the family on board, leading to a heated exchange.

Palmer said: “We gently asked the passengers at the front of the plane to share our request and, row by row, as quickly as a carefully toppling track of dominoes, all the passengers turned to ask with courtesy of the back row please. Eat nuts in flight. He was calm, serious and with an overwhelming sense of solidarity and empathy.”

She added: “There’s no beef with simple questions like these. People get it! The hand holding, the tears and the emotion of the passengers as we get off the plane after the angry little captain shouts at us from the cabin,” reports Edinburgh. Live.

Speaking to the Mail, she slammed SunExpress airline for what she called “disgusting” treatment, saying “How we were treated was disgusting. The captain decided, because of my daughter’s allergy, that he did not want to fly with her on board. When he found I talked to the other passengers that he was yelling at me from the cockpit. He was so angry that I knew we were being told to get off the plane.

Georgie and her family ended up flying EasyJet to their holiday destination the next day and said the crew happily made several announcements asking passengers not to open the peanut packets on board. However, she said they were forced to spend an extra £5,000 booking extra flights, an airport hotel and other costs.

The presenter added: “Rosie is in a terrible state about it. It’s ruined her holiday. We don’t go all the time, we fly maybe once a year and we’ve never had any problems with other airlines.”

A SunExpress spokesperson said: “We take the safety of our passengers very seriously. Shortly after boarding our flight from London Gatwick, the passenger expressed concern about a severe peanut allergy and requested an announcement to other passengers.

“We refrain from making such announcements because, like many other airlines, we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment on our flights, nor can we prevent other passengers from bringing allergen-containing food on board.

“Due to the passenger’s insistence to others on board that they should not consume nuts, the captain decided it would be safest if the family did not travel on our flight.

“When this was explained to the passenger, he displayed aggressive behavior towards our crew members and attempted to gain access to the cockpit.

“To ensure the safety of our crew and our passengers on board, we cannot tolerate aggressive and unruly behavior on our flights. Additionally, our website states that passengers must notify us 48 hours in advance of any special care required due to a medical condition, and no such notification was received from passengers in this case.”

The company acknowledges the distress caused to the family, but insists it is using the incident as an opportunity to reassess the information provided during the booking process for passengers with allergies.

Mr Sollom denies that “at no time did I behave aggressively towards any of the crew”.