Man on way to see dying aunt told he is too fat to fly

A 32 stone man who was on his way to say goodbye to a dying aunt was thrown off a transatlantic flight for being too fat. Sandy Russell was escorted off the Air Transat plane from Gatwick to Toronto by a stewardess last Saturday. He was then offered another flight for the transatlantic journey – but only if he paid for two full-price tickets.

The 32-year-old said he could not afford the £928 charge and his aunt died of bowel cancer in Canada two days after he was due to see her. He said: "I was absolutely devastated. I hardly cry, and there I was reduced to tears out of frustration and humiliation in the middle of the airport."

Mr Russell was escorted off the plane because his 52-inch girth meant that the armrest could not be lowered for take-off, as demanded by the airline's regulations. Mr Russell, from Wolverhampton, said he is angry that the airline did not explain to him before he boarded that his size could be a problem. "The worst thing is, my aunt has died now," he said. "By the time I got home from the airport, she was too ill to talk on the phone, so I couldn't even say goodbye to her.

"I'm not small, I don't deny it. But that doesn't mean I should be treated so disrespectfully." Air Transat agreed to refund Sandy's ticket price "as a gesture of goodwill." A spokesman said: "We can't ask people their measurements before they book a flight – it's a breach of their human rights. In this case, the armrest would not go down and separate Mr Russell from the lady beside him – and he was taking up more than a third of her seat."