Braille Monitor November 1986
Returning home on July 5, 1986, from the convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Kansas City, Sharon Gold and other Californians were arrested under circumstances which are reminiscent of the worst abuse heaped upon blacks during the bleakest part of the civil rights struggle of that minority in the 1950's. The facts are well documented, and serious consideration is now being given to legal action against United Airlines. Five affidavits follow. They tell the story and require little comment. It will be noted that a fifth boarding pass is mentioned in the affidavits. The person in question was sitting near the front of the plane and not involved in the incidents which are recounted in the affidavits:
Affidavit of Sharon Gold
I, Sharon Gold, hereby swear and depose:
1. My name is Sharon Gold.
2. I reside at 1233 47th Avenue, in the City of Sacramento, which is located in the County of Sacramento, California.
3. I am legally blind and at all times carry and use a long white cane.
4. I am a frequent flyer and participate in the United Airlines Mileage Plus Program, having logged 64,875 miles through June 30, 1986. My United Airlines Mileage Plus Statement is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
5. On July 5, 1986, I was a passenger on United Airlines flying from Kansas Tity, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with a change of planes in Denver, Colorado. My ticket receipt is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
6. Prior to boarding United Airlines flight #403 to fly from Denver to Sacramento, I approached the flight check-in counter located at Gate B-5 at the Stapleton Airport and requested my boarding pass and seat assignment and the boarding passes and seat assignments for four of my traveling companions from a lady gate attendant. At this time I also requested confirmation that my United Airlines Mileage Plus account had been credited with my flight miles.
7. The lady took the five tickets from me, checked four of us into the flight, separated the tickets from the receipts, marked the ticket jackets with seat assignments, appropriately stuffed the validated tickets into the ticket jackets so they would serve as boarding passes, and returned four tickets to me along with a receipt for the fifth ticket for which she was unable to issue a seat assignment because of a reservation error.
8. Approximately fifteen minutes before flight time I returned to the gate check-in counter to receive the fifth ticket with seat assignment.
9. On both occasions when I approached the gate check-in counter I was carrying and using a fifty-five-inch long white cane, which was visible over the top of the check-in counter.
10. At approximately 5:00 p.m. I boarded the plane and proceeded to my assigned seat, which was 11-D, while three of my traveling companions took their assigned seats--11-A, 11-B, and 11-C. My ticket jacket, bearing my seat assignment, is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
11. Shortly after I sat in Seat 11-D, a flight attendant approached me and in a loud voice told me that I could not sit where I was sitting because it was an exit row.
12. The flight attendant turned to a lady who was sitting in 10-D and loudly asked her if she would trade seats with me. The lady in 10-D responded affirmatively, and I noticed that the lady's voice was obviously that belonging to a very elderly person.
13. The flight attendant turned back to me and demanded that I change seats with the lady to which I responded that I was sitting in my assigned seat and that I was perfectly comfortable.
14. A man approached me, identified himself as Mr. Peterson (a ground agent), and explained that I was sitting in an emergency exit row and that I must move. I replied that I did not know any reason why I needed to move and that I was sitting in the seat to which I was assigned.
15. I was next approached by two policemen. One policeman, who identified himself as Officer Reeve of the Denver City Police Department, informed me that I was in violation of an FAA regulation by sitting in an exit row.
16. I explained to Officer Reeve that I am familiar with the overwing exit and am capable of opening it in an emergency, that there is no FAA regulation prohibiting blind persons from sitting in the exit row, and that a recent mandate had been issued to the airlines by Elizabeth Dole (Secretary of the Department of Transportation) ordering the airlines to cease claiming FAA regulations where none exist. Following this explanation, Officer Reeve left.
17. I later learned that Mr. Peterson, the ground agent described in paragraph 14, was standing behind Officer Reeve, and as I was explaining about the absence of an FAA regulation, Officer Reeve would look at Mr. Peterson, who shook his head to indicate that I was wrong and that there was an FAA regulation concerning the seating of blind persons in an emergency exit row.
18. Officer Jernigan of the Denver City Police came to row 11 and repeated that I was in violation of an FAA regulation by sitting in my assigned seat.
19. Additional policemen and airline officials came to my seat and the seats of my traveling companions alternating between requesting me to move and begging my companions to explain to me why I could not sit in my assigned seat.
20. One airline official came and informed my traveling companions of the existence of an FAA regulation, but he was followed by a second airline official who agreed with me and with my companions that it was not an FAA regulation.
21. The airline official described in paragraph 20 herein said that I could not sit in the exit row because of a United Airlines policy, to which I replied that other airlines do not have such restrictions but instead allow blind persons to sit throughout the aircraft.
22. At one time an airline official came to my seat and accused me of deliberately requesting row 11 with knowledge that it was the exit row. I replied that I did not request or choose to sit in row 11, that I have sat in row 11 on many aircraft, that this was the first time I knowingly had been on an aircraft where row 11 was located at the window exit, and that I was surprised to find row 11 to be an exit row when I boarded this plane.
23. During the time that all of the airline officials and the Denver City policemen were coming to my seat, flight attendants were circulating throughout the plane and telling passengers that I was preventing the plane from flying. They would point at me and make loud and unkind remarks. One flight attendant even brought a passenger to my seat to bawl me out.
24. A uniformed man came from the front of the plane, apparently out of the cockpit, walked to the rear of the plane, spoke to some of the passengers, opened the tail section of the plane letting in jet fuel exhaust fumes, and then returned to the front of the plane.
25. Shortly after the deck crewman returned to the front of the plane and still while the rear of the plane was open, people began angrily shouting at me.
26. One of the male passengers called for volunteers to help to carry me off of the plane. Kevin Harris, who was sitting in seat 11-C, stepped into the aisle to shield me from four men whom I later learned were actually coming up the aisle toward me.
27. Following this, a ruckus ensued, and Officer Reeve finally came to settle the passengers while the tail section of the plane was closed by someone.
28. Officer Reeve then told me that the situation was resolved and that we would be leaving shortly.
29. While Officer Reeve was speaking to me, a flight attendant went to seat 11-C and spoke with Kevin Harris asking him if he would move into seat 11-F so that he would be sitting by the window exit. Mr. Harris said that he would move and promptly moved to seat 11-F.
30. More time passed, and passengers began asking airline personnel why we did not leave since the airline had been accommodated by Mr. Harris' move from seat 11-C to seat 11-F.
31. We did not leave and remained on the ground in Denver for another hour.
32. Some time after seven o'clock, and more than two hours after boarding the plane, the flight crew announced the cancelation of the flight and the passengers were requested to leave the plane. Neither my three companions nor I left.
33. As the passengers filed out of the plane, they made derogatory remarks aimed at me and behaved in such a manner that Kevin Harris, who was now sitting in seat 11-F, pulled me toward him and raised his body so as to shield me from any outbreak of violence.
34. A man came tome, questioned me as to why I was not leaving the plane, and ordered me to leave because he said the flight was canceled. I replied that he knew and I knew that the flight was not canceled and that United Airlines only intended for me to leave the plane so that the passengers could be reloaded to fly.
35. The man insisted that the flight was canceled and that United Airlines intended to take the plane to the hangar.
36. Policemen came to my seat and repeated that the flight was canceled ad that the plane was going to the hangar, to which I replied that they knew and I knew that the flight was not canceled. I pointed out that the luggage had not been removed from the plane.
37. One officer said that I was now in violation of three statutes--Denver Revised Municipal Code 38-115(a), trespass; Colorado Revised Statute 18-9-114, hinder public transportation; and Colorado Revised Statute 18-9-115, endangering public transportation; but that if I would voluntarily get up out of my seat and leave the aircraft, I would not be arrested.
38. I unbuckled my seat belt and stood up, as did my other three companions. I moved into the aisle and the others followed.
39. The policeman blocked my path preventing me from going forward while one officer said that he did not want any disturbance created when we got out among the passengers, to which I replied that I had not created the disturbance in the plane and that I would not create a disturbance in the terminal.
40. The officer then placed all of us under arrest.
41. Two policemen escorted me and two of my three traveling companions out onto the runway where we were transported by automobile to another part of the airport, where a police office was located. My third companion, Kevin Harris, was escorted on foot through the terminal to the police office.
42. At the police office Officer Treidel refused my request to make a telephone call to my lawyer.
43. Officer Treidel served me with a General Session Summons and Complaint to appear in the County Court in and for the City and County of Denver on July 25, 1986. The Summons and Complaint was signed by Charles Fowler and was apparently signed in blank prior to my arrest. The Summons and Complaint was completed and signed by Officer Treidel and is attached hereto as Exhibit D. I later learned that Charles Fowler was the Captain of United Airlines flight #403.
44. My three companions received similar summonses. We were all then released and instructed to return to United Airlines where we were rescheduled to fly to Sacramento on United Airlines flight #897 with a 9:01 p.m. departure time, which was delayed for more than one hour.
45. My traveling companions and I did not arrive in Sacramento until 11:45 p.m. California time, which was five hours and fifteen minutes beyond our originally scheduled arrival time of 6:28 p.m.
46. In Sacramento I retrieved my luggage from United Airlines flight #4743, which I learned was the rescheduled United Airlines flight #403 for July 5.
47. At no time during the incident described herein did I ever raise my voice or lose my temper.
48. On July 23, 1986, two days before my traveling companions and I were to appear in the Denver Municipal Court, I was notified by the office of the Denver City Attorney that the City Attorney was dropping the charges and refusing to prosecute the case.
Affidavit of Sheryl Pickering
I Sheryl Pickering, hereby swear and depose:
1. My name is Sheryl Pickering.
2. I reside at 1233 47th Avenue in the City of Sacramento, which is located in the County of Sacramento, California.
3. On the afternoon of July 5, 1986, I was a passenger on United Airlines and flew from Kansas City, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with a change in planes in Denver, Colorado. My ticket receipt is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
4. I was traveling in the company of five other persons, three of whom are blind. I am sighted.
5. Following our arrival at Denver's Stapleton Airport, Sharon Gold, who is blind and was carrying a long white cane, took the tickets of five of us to the check-in counter to check us into United Airlines flight #403 to fly from Denver to Sacramento and to obtain our seat assignments and boarding passes for this flight.
6. During the time which Ms. Gold was at the check-in counter, I was standing beside her. Ms. Gold's white cane, which is long enough to extend from the floor to above her chin, was standing upright on the floor and was resting against her shoulder. The cane extended well above the check-in counter and was in clear view of the United Airlines ground personnel working at the counter.
7. After Ms. Gold was given four of our seat assignments and validated tickets, she departed the counter and then returned some ten to fifteen minutes later to pick up the fifth ticket and seat assignment. Again, Ms. Gold's long white cane was in clear view of the personnel working at the check-in counter.
8. At approximately 5:00 p.m. I boarded United Airlines flight #403 and took my assigned seat in 11-B. My ticket jacket, which indicates my seat assignment, is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
9. Ms. Gold, who is described in paragraphs 5, 6, and 7, took her assigned seat in 11-D.
10. Besides Ms. Gold and me, two others of my friends were assigned to seats in row 11. David Estes, who is blind, was assigned to seat 11-A; and Kevin Harris, who is sighted, was assigned to seat 11-C.
11. Shortly after the four of us were seated in row 11, a flight attendant approached Ms. Gold and informed her that because she is blind, she could not sit in an emergency exit row.
12. The flight attendant then turned to an elderly and frail old woman sitting in seat 10-D and asked her to change seats with Ms. Gold. The elderly woman agreed to make the exchange.
13. The flight attendant then turned to Ms. Gold and ordered her to change seats with the old woman. Ms. Gold calmly and politely told the attendant that she would remain in her assigned seat after which the flight attendant left row 11 to return to the front of the plane.
14. After the flight attendant left Ms. Gold's seat and before any flight attendant re-entered the mid section of the plane, the flight attendants took off their uniform jackets; thus, they were no longer wearing identifying name badges.
15. A ground agent wearing a badge bearing the name of Dennis Peterson, approached Ms. Gold and asked her to move, and she declined.
16. Ms. Gold was approached by two policemen. Officer Reeve, the spokesman, told her that an FAA regulation prevented Ms. Gold from sitting in the emergency exit row.
17. A United Airlines ground personnel stood behind Officer Reeve and nodded his head in approval of Officer Reeve's statements concerning alleged FAA regulations and in disapproval of Ms. Gold's statements that there was not an FAA regulation preventing her from sitting in the emergency exit row.
18. Police and airline personnel asked me if I was traveling with Ms. Gold, alleged an FAA regulation concerning the seating of blind persons in an emergency exit row, and asked me to persuade Ms. Gold to move to a nonemergency row.
19. I tried to explain that I knew there was no FAA regulation concerning the seating of blind persons in the emergency exit row, and I was rudely informed by Officer Jernigan that he had read the FAA regulations and that I had obviously not read them. I responded that I had read the FAA regulations relevant to the carriage of blind persons aboard aircraft and suggested that he get them so that we might read them together.
20. A man in a uniform of the cockpit crew walked to the rear of the passenger cabin, speaking to the passengers along the way.
21. Soon after the man described in paragraph 20 went to the rear of the plane, there was a change in the air flow within the cabin, as if a rear door or vent had been opened, and the smell of jet fuel exhaust began to permeate the cabin.
22. After five to ten minutes the man left the rear of the cabin and returned to the front of the plane, apparently returning to the cockpit.
23. A male voice from the rear of the plane shouted and asked for three volunteers to help remove Ms. Gold from the plane.
24. Passengers became rowdy, call bells for flight attendants began ringing, and Officer Reeve came to the midsection of the plane to settle the passengers and then left the area again.
25. Officer Reeve returned to Ms. Gold and announced to her loudly enough that many of the surrounding passengers could hear that the problem was solved and that we would soon be on our way.
26. A woman airline official spoke to Kevin Harris, who was sitting beside me in seat 11-C, and asked him to move to seat 11-F so that he would be sitting next to the window exit and so that we might leave. Mr. Harris agreed to move and did move to seat 11-F.
27. We continued to sit on the ground and not leave the gate. Nearby passengers began asking questions of the flight personnel as to why we were not departing, since Mr. Harris had moved to seat 11-F and thus the request of the airlines had been fulfilled.
28. Flight attendants scowled, pointed at Ms. Gold, and snarled that we were not leaving because she was continuing to sit in the emergency exit row in seat 11-D.
29. In about one hour, and after more than two hours had passed since boarding the aircraft, United Airlines flight personnel announced the cancelation of United Airlines flight #403.
30. Passengers immediately began leaving the plane. As they filed past row 11, passengers scowled, stared, and made nasty, derogatory remarks aimed at Ms. Gold.
31. Police and airline personnel began questioning Ms. Gold as to why we were not leaving the plane. She responded that she was well aware, as were the police and airline officials, that the plane would fly on to Sacramento and that we wished to go on the flight. They would only respond that the plane was going to the hangar and that we were unwelcome to go with it.
32. Three police officers then approached us. Sergeant King informed Ms. Gold that the four of us were in violation of three Colorado statutes and that, if she would voluntarily leave, there would be no arrest.
33. Ms. Gold stood up and stepped forward into the aisle. We each fell in line behind her. The officers blocked our passage from the plane.
34. One officer harshly informed Ms. Gold that he wanted no trouble from us when we entered the gate waiting area inside the terminal, to which Ms. Gold calmly and quietly replied that she had not caused the trouble in the airplane and she had no intention for us to cause trouble in the waiting area.
35. The officer then said that we were under arrest and three of us were taken down the stairway from the jetway to the runway and then transported by a police vehicle to another part of the terminal where we were taken upstairs to a Denver City Police Airport Security Office.
36. After getting into the police vehicle, I questioned the officers about the fact that the luggage compartments on the aircraft being used for flight #403 were not open and that the luggage was not being removed from the canceled flight so that the plane could go to the hangar as the officers and flight personnel had claimed. The officers did not respond to me; however, Officer Reeve turned to Officer Jernigan, who was driving, poked Officer Jernigan's leg with his hand, and exchanged a nonverbal acknowledging response to my question regarding the unremoved luggage.
37. In the security office Officer Jernigan completed a General Court Summons and Complaint for me. The blank Summons and Complaint had been signed by Charles Fowler and was then completed in the police office and signed by Officer Jernigan. The Summons and Complaint is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
38. I was then released along with my three friends to return to United Airlines and to obtain a seat on the next flight to Sacramento.
39. According to the summons, I was to appear in the Denver Municipal Court on July 25, 1986, to answer a charge of criminal trespass.
40. I landed in Sacramento at 11:45 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, which was approximately five hours and fifteen minutes later than my scheduled landing of 6:28 p.m.
41. In Sacramento I went to the United Airlines counter on the ground floor of the airport to claim my baggage. I spoke with a woman wearing a United Airlines badge bearing the name of Sandy Weeks.
42. After receiving my luggage I asked Ms. Weeks when my luggage arrived in Sacramento and on which flight. She advised me that the luggage arrived on United Airlines flight #4743.
43. I questioned Ms. Weeks further concerning flight #4743 since it was not listed on the board immediately behind her as a scheduled United Airlines flight. She advised me that it was the rescheduled United Airlines flight #403 at which time she became very hostile with me and made derogatory remarks about "our blind lady friend," obviously making reference to Ms. Gold.
44. At no time during the incident described herein was David Estes, who was sitting to my immediate left in seat 11-A and who is blind and described in paragraph #10, requested to move from the emergency exit row.
45. At all times during the incident described herein, Ms. Gold maintained a courteous manner and never raised her voice or lost her temper.
46. On July 23, 1986, two days before my traveling companions and I were to appear in the Denver Municipal court, I was notified by the office of the Denver City Attorney that the City Attorney was dropping the charges and refusing to prosecute the case.
Affidavit of David Eldon Estes
I, David Estes, hereby swear and depose:
1. My name is David Eldon Estes.
2. I reside at 1215 Q Street, Apartment 11, in the City of Sacramento, which is located in the County of Sacramento, California.
3. I am legally blind.
4. I was a passenger on United Airlines on July 5, 1986, flying from Kansas City, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with a change of planes in Denver, Colorado.
5. Upon arrival at the airport in Denver, Sharon Gold, who is blind and was carrying a long white cane, took the tickets of five of us, who were traveling together, to the check-in counter to obtain boarding passes and seat assignments for our flight from Denver to Sacramento on United Airlines flight #403.
6. I boarded the plane at approximately 5:00 p.m. and located my seat in row 11, seat A, which was at the window exit.
7. Sharon Gold, who is described herein in paragraph 5, was seated across the aisle in row 11, seat D.
8. A flight attendant approached Ms. Gold and loudly told her that she could not sit where she was seated because she is blind.
9. The flight attendant turned to an obviously elderly lady sitting in front of Ms. Gold and again in a loud voice asked the lady if she would exchange seats with Ms. Gold. The lady said that she would.
10. The flight attendant told Ms. Gold that she was to exchange seats with the elderly woman and Ms. Gold refused, saying that she was comfortable where she was sitting.
11. A man, who was apparently an airline official, came to Ms. Gold's seat and informed her that an FAA regulation required her to move because she is blind and was sitting in an emergency exit row.
12. When Ms. Gold declined, the man said he would summon the police and have her arrested. The man then left.
13. Two policemen approached Ms. Gold. One told her that there was an FAA regulation that prevented her from sitting in an emergency exit row. Ms. Gold explained to the policeman that there was no FAA regulation preventing her from sitting in the emergency exit row.
14. The police officers and airline officials continued to come to Ms. Gold telling her that there was an FAA regulation requiring her to move. At one time they even asked the three of us sitting in Seats 11-A, 11-B, and 11-C to persuade Ms. Gold to move. At another time an officer threatened to arrest all of us since Ms. Gold would not move and we were traveling with her.
15. Two airline officials came. One was carrying a radio. The one not carrying the radio again told Ms. Gold that an FAA regulation prevented her from sitting in her seat. When the rest of us repeated that there was not an FAA regulation preventing Ms. Gold from sitting where she was assigned, the official with the radio agreed that there was no FAA regulation and alleged that it was a United Airlines safety policy.
16. Airline officials circulated throughout the plane talking to the passengers. The passengers became riled up, and some even resorted to yelling at Ms. Gold.
17. At one time a man called for volunteers to help him carry Ms. Gold off of the plane. The police were required to settle the passengers.
18. A policeman went to Ms. Gold and told her that the problem was solved and that we would be leaving soon.
19. While the policeman was speaking to Ms. Gold a flight attendant approached Kevin Harris, who was sitting in Seat 11-C, and asked him to move to seat 11-F. Mr. Harris agreed to move and did move from seat 11-C to seat 11F.
20. We remained on the ground and flight #403 did not fly as promised.
21. After we had been sitting for more than two hours, flight officials announced that the flight was canceled and requested the passengers to leave the plane. The four of us did not leave the plane.
22. Airline officials went to Ms. Gold, questioned her as to why we were not leaving the plane, and then demanded that we leave. Ms. Gold said we were not leaving because we wanted to fly to Sacramento and that she did not believe that the flight had been canceled.
23. The airline personnel insisted that the flight was canceled and that the plane was going to the hangar.
24. Policemen approached row 11, and one told Ms. Gold that we were in violation of three Colorado statutes. The policeman told Ms. Gold that if she would voluntarily get up and leave the plane she would not be arrested.
25. Ms. Gold got up out of her seat and proceeded into the aisle to leave the plane and we followed.
26. Three policemen stepped in front of Ms. Gold so that we could not pass. One policeman told Ms. Gold that he did not want any trouble when we got out among the other passengers. Ms. Gold quietly said that she did not create the disturbance in the plane and that she did not intend any disturbance to be created inside the terminal.
27. The policeman then said that we were all under arrest.
28. Two policemen took three of us from the plane and out on the runway where we were transported by automobile to a part of the airport where a police office was located.
29. At the police office Officer Treidel filled in a blank General Session Summons and Complaint which had been previously signed by Charles Fowler of United Airlines. My General Session Summons and Complaint is attached hereto.
30. According to the summons I was to appear in the Denver Municipal Court on July 25 to answer a charge of criminal trespass.
31. I was instructed to return to United Airlines where I was rescheduled on the next available flight to Sacramento.
32. I finally landed in Sacramento at 11:45 p.m. California time, which was approximately five hours and fifteen minutes later than my scheduled landing of 6:28 p.m.
33. At no time during the incident described herein was the fact that I am blind raised as an issue nor was I requested to move from the window exit seat to which I was assigned, seat 11-A.
34. At all times during the incident described herein Ms. Gold maintained a courteous manner and never raised her voice or lost her temper.
35. On July 23, 1986, two days before my traveling companions and I were to appear in the Denver Municipal Court, I was notified by the office of the Denver City Attorney that the City Attorney was dropping the charges and refusing to prosecute the case.
Affidavit of Kevin DeShay Harris
I, Kevin DeShay Harris, hereby swear and depose:
1. My name is Kevin DeShay Harris.
2. I reside at 1813 Capital Avenue, Apartment 7, in the City of Sacramento, which is located in the County of Sacramento, California.
3. On July 5, 1986, I was a passenger aboard United Airlines flying from Kansas City, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with a change of planes in Denver, Colorado.
4. I was traveling in the company of five other passengers, three of whom are legally blind. I am sighted.
5. At the Stapleton Airport in Denver, Sharon Gold, who is blind and was carrying a long white cane, took the tickets of five of us to the check-in counter to check us into United Airlines flight $403 and to obtain our seat assignments and boarding passes for the flight from Denver to Sacramento.
6. I boarded the plane and located my assigned seat of 11-C.
7. I sat in my assigned seat of 11-C while Ms. Gold took her assigned seat of 11-D; David Estes, who is blind, took his assigned seat of 11-A; and Sheryl Pickering took her assigned seat of 11-B.
8. A flight attendant went to Ms. Gold's seat and told her that it was against FAA regulations for a blind person to sit in an emergency exit row and that she would have to move. Ms. Gold declined to move, saying that there was not an FAA regulation stating that she could not sit in the emergency exit row.
9. The flight attendent asked an elderly lady, who was sitting in the row in front of Ms. Gold, if she would trade seats with Ms. Gold. The elderly lady agreed to move.
10. The flight attendant then turned to Ms. Gold and ordered her to change seats with the elderly lady. Ms. Gold declined, saying that she was perfeclty comfortable in her assigned seat and that she was capable of handling the emergency exit window.
11. After the flight attendant left Ms. Gold's seat and before any flight attendant re-entered the mid section of the plane, the flight attendants took off their uniform jackets; thus, they were no longer wearing identifying name badges.
12. The police were summonde and a police officer came to Ms. Gold's seat, requested that she move, and tolder her that she was in violation of FAA regulations by sitting in the emergency exit row. Ms. Gold explained that there was no such regulation and that there was no need for her to move.
13. Police officers and airline officials took turns going to Ms. Gold's seat and requesting her to move.
14. One flight attendant came and asked the three of us sitting in seats 11-A, 11-B, and 11-C as described in paragraph 7 herein if we would persuade Ms. Gold to move. We declined saying we were not her guardians and that we knew there was not an FAA regulation requiring that Ms. Gold not sit in an emergency exit row.
15. A man in uniform with shoulder boards walked to the back of the plane, talked to passengers along the way, opened the back door, and then returned to the front of the plane.
16. Passengers behind row 11 became angry. One person hollered out to throw her off the plane, another yelled to get her off so we can go home, and still another called out to throw that "blind bitch" off of the plane.
17. Another man in the back of the plane called out for three people to help throw "that woman" off of the plane so that we could go.
18. Four men stood up in the back of the plane and began walking toward Ms. Gold.
19. I stepped in the aisle standing between Ms. Gold and the approaching men and told them that they would have to go through me first. The men went back to their seats.
20. A man came up from the back of the plane, put his face down in mine, and asked why I was defending Ms. Gold. I told him to get out of my face. A police officer then came from the front of the plane to row 11 and ordered the man to return to his seat at the rear of the plane.
21. The police officer then returned to row 11 and told Ms. Gold, loudly enough for me to hear, that the problem was solved and that we would be leaving soon.
22. At the same time that the police officer was speaking to Ms. Gold a flight attendant approached me and asked me if I would move to seat 11-F so that I was sitting next to the window exit.
23. I agreed to move and did move from seat 11-C to seat 11-F.
24. Despite the promise that we would leave if I moved to seat 11-F, the plane remained on the ground.
25. After another hour passed, and about two hours after the plane had been scheduled to leave the Denver airport, the flight personnel walked through the plane and announced that the flight was canceled and ordered the passengers to leave the plane.
26. The passengers filed out of the plane, some displaying obvious anger and hostility toward Ms. Gold.
27. I pulled Ms. Gold toward me and over the empty seat between us. I raised my body to shield her from possible physical abuse.
28. Airline officials came back to the four of us, who were still sitting in our seats in row 11, and one man began questioning Ms. Gold as to why we were not leaving the plane.
29. The man described in paragraph 28 ordered Ms. Gold and the rest of us to leave the plane because he said the flight was canceled. We did not leave. Ms. Gold told the man that they both knew that the flight was not canceled and that she believed that United Airlines only intended to get us off of the plane so that the passengers could be reloaded to fly. The man insisted that the flight was canceled and that United Airlines intended to take the plane to the hangar.
30. Four police officers came to row 11, and one informed Ms. Gold that we were in violation of local and state statutes.
31. Ms. Gold asked for the allegedly violated statutes and was given the code numbers.
32. The officer told Ms. Gold that if she would voluntarily leave her seat she would not be arrested.
33. Ms. Gold unbuckled her seat belt, stood up, and moved into the aisle. The rest of us followed Ms. Gold.
34. As Ms. Gold stepped forward tb leave the plane, three of the four officers blocked the aisle to prevent her from passing.
35. One officer told Ms. Gold that he did not want any trouble when we went into the passenger waiting area, to which Ms. Gold responded that she had not created the trouble in the plane and that she did not intend to cause trouble in the terminal.
36. The officer then announced that we were under arrest.
37. The officer described in paragraph 36 then reached up and pulled papers out of his hat which I later observed were blank complaints signed by the airlines and which were completed by the police to levy charges against the four of us.
38. Ms. Gold and two other occupants of row 11 were escorted out of the plane and onto the runway by two of the officers.
39. The other two police officers escorted me through the gate waiting area, parading me before the passengers who had just deplaned flight #403.
40. As I walked alongside one policeman with the other walking behind me, the crowd of passengers booed at me and neither of the policemen did anything to step the disorderliness.
41. At the police office Officer Jernigan filled in one of the blank General Court Summons and Complaint forms which had been signed by Charles Fowler of United Airlines and which is herein described in paragraph 37.
42. According to the summons I was to appear in the Denver Municipal Court on July 25 to answer a charge of criminal treaspass.
43. The police officers instructed me to return to United Airlines where I was rescheduled to fly on the next flight to Sacramento.
44. I finally landed in Sacramento at 11:45 p.m. California time, which was approximately five hours and fifteen minutes later than my scheduled landing of 6:28 p.m.
45. Once in Sacramento I went to the United Airlines counter on the ground floor of the airport to claim my baggage. There I learned that my luggage had arrived on United Airlines flight #4743, the rescheduled United Airlines flight #403.
46. At no time during the incident described herein was David Estes, who was sitting in seat 11-A and who is blind and described in paragraph 7, requested to move from the emergency exit row.
47. At all times during the incident described herein Ms. Gold maintained a courteous manner and never raised her voice or lost her temper.
48. On July 23, 1986, two days before my traveling companions and I were to appear in the Denver Municipal Court, I was notified by the office of the Denver City Attorney that the City Attorney was dropping the charges and refusing to prosecute the case.
Affidavit of Warren Todd Elzey
I, Warren Todd Elzey, do hereby swear and depose:
1. My name is Warren Todd Elzey.
2. I reside at 75 Rio Vista, Oakland, California 94611, which is located in the County of Alameda.
3. Prior to July 31, 1986, I resided at 714 Easton Avenue #C, San Bruno, California 94066, which is located in the County of San Mateo.
4. I am legally blind and at all times carry a 61-inch long white cane.
5. On May 1, 1986, I purchased airline tickets from Unitours of San Bruno to travel from San Francisco to Kansas City, Missouri; from Kansas City to Columbus, Ohio; and from Columbus to San Francisco, California, by way of Chicago, Illinois, and Sacramento, California, all of which travel to be on United Airlines.
6. At the time I was ticketed by Unitours, I was issued seat assignments for all flights.
7. I began my travel, leaving San Francisco on June 27, 1986, and I returned to San Francisco on July 20, 1986.
8. On July 20, 1986, I went to the Port Columbus International Airport and checked into United Airlines flight 889 to fly from Columbus to Chicago and United Airlines flight 839 to fly from Chicago to San Francisco by way of Sacramento.
9. The agent at the United Airlines ticket counter issued a boarding pass to me for flight 889 assigning me to seat 6-A, which was the same seat to which I was assigned by my travel agent. However, the agent at the Untied Airlines ticket conter changed the seat to which I had been previously assigned on flight 839 and reassigned me to seat 17-E. My ticket receipt and United Airlines ticket jacket, which indicates my seat assignments on flights 889 and 839, are attahed hereto as Exhibits A and B.
10. In Chicago I boarded United Airlines flight 839 and proceeded to my assigned seat in row 17, seat E, where I took my assigned seat and stowed my white cane on the floor.
11. Row 17 was located at the overwing window exit and thus referred to as the emergency exit row.
12. I sat in row 17, seat E, while the plane flew from Chicago to Sacramento and from Sacramento to San Francisco.
13. At no time did any United Airlines official or any other person approach me concerning my seat assignment or request that I cease to occupy seat 17-E.