Ben Gurion security stops passenger flying with life-saving medical equipment

Family of 19-year-old ALS sufferer Netanel Cohen forced to get off El Al flight to Greece after bag triggers security concern, despite earlier approval; they took later flight

A family traveling with a severely disabled youth was forced to leave an El Al plane that was about to depart Ben Gurion Airport for Greece on Sunday after security officials raised concerns over his luggage, which contained life-saving medical equipment.

Netanel Cohen, 19, was traveling to Greece for a summer vacation together with his parents and siblings. His medical equipment was checked in as luggage for their Sunday morning flight.

The family notified the airline months in advance, and had obtained the required permits, including from an airline physician, to board with the special wheelchair, breathing apparatus and other medical equipment he required, Hadashot television news reported on Sunday.

The Cohens were already seated on the plane when officials notified them that one suitcase containing medical equipment was stuck in security. The family said the airline then informed them they could either travel without the equipment — which Netanel needed to live — or disembark to allow the flight to depart.

When they got off the plane, the mother Ricky said, they discovered that the suitcase that had triggered the security concerns was filled with diapers and the charger for the breathing machine. As they spoke with security officials, permission arrived for the suitcase to be loaded onto the plane, but it was too late for the family to board.

Ricky Cohen, mother of ALS sufferer Netanel, 19, at Ben Gurion Airport on July 15, 2018. (Hadashot screen capture)

They boarded another flight later in the day.

In a Sunday evening statement, El Al said the airline’s staff had “worked diligently ahead of time to arrange the youth’s flight, with compassion and love. Airport security did not allow [the airline] to load one of the family’s suitcases onto the plane after a security concern was raised during an x-ray [of the suitcase] at Ben Gurion Airport.”

After the family chose to disembark, El Al continued: “The company then helped the family with its every need, and senior managers at El Al, under the personal supervision of the CEO, personally saw to the family’s needs at the King David Lounge until the next flight to their destination took off later that day.”

Meir Cohen carries his son Netanel, 19, as they disembark from an El Al flight, July 15, 2018, at Ben Gurion Airport. (Hadashot screen capture)

The Airports Authority, which is responsible for security at Ben Gurion, said, “The decision of the airline to remove the passenger from the flight is being examined. A security concern in the luggage of the passenger had to be checked in keeping with international requirements.”