Cloncurry Airport: Father angered over Qantas treatment of injured son

An injured child needing surgery in Townsville was left “abandoned” at a regional hospital after the Qantas flight departed 20 minutes early, his father alleges.

A Qantas spokesperson said that while it was disappointing that Cloncurry primary school student Blake Cosgrove was not able to board the flight to Townsville on Monday, saying they "arrived more than 10 minutes after check-in had closed”.

A badly injured child in a wheelchair needing emergency surgery in Townsville was left “abandoned” at a regional hospital after the Qantas flight departed 20 minutes early, his deeply angered father alleges.

Scott Cosgrove said a kick from a horse on a rural family property about 15 kilometres outside of Cloncurry 4pm on Monday left son Blake, aged just eight, with a badly broken ankle and leg in Cloncurry Hospital.

He said the patient travel division at Mount Isa Hospital booked the required flights for both Blake and mother Stacey Roberts from Cloncurry to Townsville on Qantas Flight 2471 at 10.25am on Tuesday, in time for emergency surgery in Townsville University Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Cosgrove said the family were told they were booked on the flight about 9.30am and rushed directly to the hospital.

He said Blake and his wheelchair were bundled into the family vehicle, arriving at the airport at 10am, well before the scheduled departure.

Blake Cosgrove in a wheelchair after his ankle and leg was broken after a kick from a horse on a rural property on Monday. Picture: Supplied

The Townsville-based business development manager said his son was returned to Cloncurry Hospital and was now booked on a flight from Mount Isa to Townsville on Tuesday evening, with surgery booked in at TUH on Wednesday afternoon, a delay of 24 hours.

“I would not call it ‘Spirit of Australia’ one bit,” he said of the national carrier’s trademarked tagline.

“Leaving an eight-year-old abandoned at an airport is just unfathomable, where is the customer care? It’s zero, nothing, there is no customer care, that’s gone out of the window.”

A hospital X-ray showing the damage caused by a kick from a horse to the leg of Cloncurry State School student Blake Cosgrove on a rural property on Monday. Picture: Supplied

Blake Cosgrove in Cloncurry Hospital after his ankle and leg was broken after a kick from a horse on a rural property. Picture: Supplied

Mr Cosgrove said Qantas needed to crackdown on who was responsible and “pull these people into line”.

“He’s in a wheelchair, he’s not running.”

He said that when he had kicked his complaints up the line, he had received about 20 “I’m sorries” but there was “no recourse, no accountability”.

It is understood that check-in closed at 9.56am and Blake did not arrive until 10.07am, and there was no wheelchair or medical assistance requested on the booking.

A Qantas spokesperson said while it was disappointing that Blake was not able to board the flight, “unfortunately they arrived more than 10 minutes after check-in had closed”.

“They have been rebooked on a flight from Mount Isa that will arrive in Townsville tonight,” they said.

“We’ve been in contact with the family today and we are doing everything we can to make their journey as comfortable as possible.”

Originally published as Cloncurry Airport: Father angered over Qantas treatment of injured son