Woman claims she was kicked off Southwest Airlines flight at Burbank airport due to health concerns

BURBANK, Calif. — When Brianna Solari boarded a Southwest Airlines plane at Burbank Airport in California on Thursday, she tried to cover up.

“I had a headband that covered my forehead and a mask because I realized my appearance was a little off-putting,” she told our sister station KABC.

She said that just before takeoff, a crew member approached her.

“He asked me, ‘There was just concern. Do you have any health problems, any illnesses… is it chickenpox?’ and I said, ‘No, I had surgery,’” she recalls.

Solari suffers from a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis, or NF, which causes noncancerous tumors to grow in the nervous system and skin. She traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to undergo surgery to shrink the tumors on her body.

“I’m missing a protein that acts as a tumor suppressor,” she explains. “That’s why tumors are growing all over my body, appearing under and on the skin. They can be tiny, like pinpricks, or huge. They can be extremely disfiguring.”

Solari, who is a nurse, said she had discharge papers from the hospital but was told they did not need to see them. Instead, she was told she needed to be seen by emergency medical services and escorted to the door.

“At no point was I allowed to speak to this doctor, and at no point was I even examined by emergency medical services,” Solari said.

Eventually, she got a letter from her surgeon, telling her she had to hand over her phone to the crew members to show them she was cleared to fly.

She said she waited about five hours before being put on another flight.

“It was humiliating, it was embarrassing,” she said. “I felt violated because it was a personal medical situation.”

KABC reached out to Southwest Airlines to inquire about the situation and its policy when someone suspects a passenger has a communicable disease.

The airline responded with the following statement:

“We are disheartened to learn of the customer’s experience while flying with us and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. While our team eventually received the customer’s approval to travel, we were unable to do so in time for the flight’s departure. We have rebooked her on a later flight, provided her with a future flight voucher and meal voucher, and are reaching out to her directly to discuss the situation.”

Under federal regulations, carriers must not refuse, delay transportation, or require a medical certificate unless they can determine that the passenger’s condition poses a direct threat.

It’s unclear exactly how Southwest Airlines could have made this decision.