Passenger boards a flight with a mobility device. Then staff tell him it has to go somewhere impossible and offboarded him: ‘needs to make it stop’

A short cabin video, reported by ABC News Australia and posted to TikTok, is making the rounds this week, and it’s not because of turbulence or a mid-air meltdown. It’s because of what happened before the plane ever left the gate.

The clip centers on Shane Hryhorec, a disability advocate who says he was pulled off a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Adelaide after a disagreement over where to store part of his wheelchair. Hryhorec was traveling with his service animal, Whitney, when he says staff told him a new battery-storage rule required his wheelchair’s SmartDrive power-assist unit to sit on the floor directly in front of him.

The problem, according to Hryhorec, was that his assigned seat had a barrier right in front of it, leaving no floor space for the device at all.

The problem with the assigned seat

He says he tried to explain that the SmartDrive, which detaches from the wheelchair and is designed to roll, simply could not fit where crew were asking him to put it, and that he’d previously flown with it stored overhead without incident. The back and forth reportedly stretched on for around 20 minutes before Virgin Australia decided he was holding up the flight and had him removed from the plane.

Hryhorec’s footage from inside the cabin shows the cramped space in front of his seat, and he argues there were other ways to handle the situation that didn’t involve pulling him off the aircraft, including reseating him somewhere with more legroom or finding a different spot for the unit altogether.

He’s also framed the incident as part of a broader pattern in air travel. Passengers with disabilities have also said they were removed from flights despite having accommodation needs, while Hryhorec argues that many similar experiences rarely get attention because the people dealing with them don’t have a camera rolling or a platform to post to.

The clip’s comment section has become its own layer of the story. One person wrote, “he also mentioned he had flown 4 times recently without issues and a flight attendant said ‘I don’t believe you!'”

Another commenter zeroed in on what happened after he was taken off the plane, writing, “He was treated so poorly. And the first thing they said to him when he got off the plane was to delete the footage! I’m glad it’s getting attention.” 

A third reaction took a broader swing at the industry, asking, “Do airline employees ever stop and wonder how their actions would look on the news?”

Airlines have leaned harder on lithium battery restrictions for mobility devices in recent years, with the rules generally aimed at reducing fire risks in the cabin. Hryhorec’s experience, however, raises questions about what happens when those requirements collide with the practical realities of an aircraft’s seating layout.

For wheelchair users, the problems can continue once the plane lands, with disabled travelers also documenting problems with the equipment and assistance provided during the deplaning process.

Virgin Australia told ABC News, which first reported on the incident, that it remains committed to providing an accessible and inclusive travel experience for all guests and said it planned to reach out to Hryhorec directly. According to The Guardian, the airline later apologized, saying it did not meet its own standards in handling the situation and confirmed it had contacted Hryhorec to apologize and better understand his experience.