Reseating of passenger was due to safety reasons: Asiana

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest airline by sales, said Wednesday its decision to reseat a passenger with a physical disability was to protect the safety of its passengers after he took issue with the matter on Youtube.

Tim Seward, a 31-year-old industrial designer, was heading to Hawaii from Beijing via Incheon. A Chinese airline staff noticed his prosthetic leg before the plane took off in Beijing on Sunday and asked him to move from an exit row seat to another seat.  

"As an airline operator responsible of protecting the safety of its passengers, it was an inevitable decision to request the reseating of the passenger after careful review to determine if the passenger is capable of helping the crew carry out its emergency duties," Asiana said in a statement.

Prosthetic limbs are not specified as criteria in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation to restrict assigning passengers to the exit row. However, the regulation states that it is the airlines' decision to judge whether the passenger is fit to be seated in certain seats.

Airlines require passengers in exit row seats to physically help passengers exit from an airplane in the event of a crash landing or other emergency situations.

Seward uploaded a recorded video on Youtube on Sunday and wrote, "I paid extra for a seat with extra leg room and Asiana Airlines asked me to move because they saw my prosthetic foot. Apparently they can't prove that I am capable enough to sit in the seat I purchased so they made me move seats because I can't prove I can run, or jump."

It is not true the passenger was given the exit row seat after paying additional fees and it is not correct that Asiana unfairly pressured him to move, the company said, dismissing his arguments on Youtube and in media interviews. (Yonhap)