A disabled man has claimed he was treated "like a second class citizen" after being left on a plane waiting for help for 40 minutes.
Norman Green, of Hinckley, said he, his wife and other disabled passengers were left for so long the cleaners and the pilot for the next flight stepped on to the aircraft at East Midlands airport.
Mr Green, 64, who cannot walk up steps or stairs after an illness, said: "We were all left there waiting for an ambilift which was to be provided by OCS – the people who provide them. It took so long it was very, very embarrassing.
"The cleaners came on wanting to clean up where we were and they were not happy.
"The pilot who said he was flying the aircraft out to Portugal came on, too. He was not happy either. He asked us why we were still on the plane. He was so annoyed he called OCS three times and was told they would be there in a minute.
"It was terrible. We all felt like second-class citizens.
"None of us could get off without assistance, so we were stuck there like idiots."
Mr Green and his wife, Maureen, said they suffered the indignity after coming back to East Midlands Airporton May 23 following a 10-day holiday in Majorca.
Mr Green said: "I am not one for complaining, but this is just too much. We were just left high and dry. When a man eventually came from OCS he was very rude to us and we all felt so embarrassed it was awful."
Mrs Green said the delays were not over because, once they had got to baggage reclaim, their bags were not on the carousel. She said: "The carousel was not turning and the bags were not on it. The baggage reclaim carousel number we had been given had been changed to another flight."
The couple found a member of staff who turned the carousel on and put the bags on.
Mr Green said: "After all of this messing about we were one-and-a-half hours late and our taxi driver was moaning.
"He was due to go to Heathrow Airportto pick up another fare, so his firm had to send another driver. We got halfway home, then had to wait for another driver to meet us, who took us the rest of the way back.
"It was a comedy of errors but it was not funny. It is no way to treat disabled people who rely on others."
A spokeswoman for OCS said: "We handle more than a million people with reduced mobility transfers every year and are very sorry to hear of any occasion when our customers have been let down by our service.
"On the day in question, there was a fault with one of the ambilifts, which meant it couldn't be used. We apologise if this wasn't explained properly to the customer and for the obvious inconvenience caused."
An East Midlands Airportspokesperson said: "The Airportworks closely with all service partners on site to make sure our customers receive a high standard of customer service and we apologise that the service received on this occasion was not satisfactory.
"We are looking into this matter in conjunction with both the handling agent and airline."
