Sickened by Soiled Seat

March 22, 2018

in Odor Stories

Travelling business class from Manila (MNL) to Narita (NRT) last Friday, a middle-aged man ambled onto the plane with a cane. His face looked very pained as he got into the seat next to me, which I put down to walking with a cane.

As is quite normal for MNL, we queued for 1 hour before lift-off. Halfway through this I sensed a foul odor coming from his seat. After liftoff he made his way to the restroom, and I noticed his seat was covered in feces.

I informed the flight attendants of such. The poor dears did their best to cover up the odor and clean the mess, but to no avail. They covered the seats with blankets which helped, until the gent got back from cleaning his pants in the restroom and continued to soil himself every half-hour until the plane reached Narita.

I asked for re-seating anywhere, coach, business… on the wing. The plane was totally full. Luckily enough I had a bag of Fisherman’s Friend lozenges, which I breathed through for the rest of the flight. Even then it took hours to get over the nausea from the horrendous smell.

I would like to get reader’s views on whether the airline should compensate for allowing a pretty obviously sick person on board.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

James March 25, 2018 at 2:47 pm

Sounds like norovirus or c diff — both highly contagious. The passenger should not have brrn allowed on the airplane.

Reply

lin April 4, 2018 at 12:16 pm

That is so disgusting. The fact that he was so sick that he couldn't or wouldn't control himself. Also the fact that he clearly will spread this virus to others. Here's hoping you do not get sick. And in a word YES the airline should compensate for having to put up with his crap. Literally.

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Bryn April 11, 2018 at 2:14 pm

Why should the airline compensate you for something that's not their fault? They didn't make the guy crap himself. Should they allow a "pretty obviously sick" guy onboard? Was he? You said you thought he was pained from walking with a cane – why should the gate attendant think any different?

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Andrew April 16, 2018 at 8:55 am

How is an old man crapping his pants the airline's fault? This is just plain bad luck.
I mean, poor guy… I'm sure he was not enjoying it either. It's impossible to know whether he decided to board the plain knowing pretty well what would happen or not. Let's hope he didn't expect that, because if he did it would be so wrong.
However… should the FA asked to see if there was a doctor on the plane? What is the protocol in such a case?

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Frank Gallagher April 19, 2018 at 5:10 pm

The guy could have had various problems that don't involve contagious disease. He could have had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease. If he knows he has a problem that causes uncontrollable diarrhea, he should have worn an adult diaper. I don't blame the airline, since it's unlikely that they knowingly "let" him fly or could have anticipated what he did. It sounds like the crew was taken by surprise and did the best they could. Sorry you had to go through that experience.

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David August 21, 2018 at 12:43 am

Follow up to this. I did contact the airline with respect to the incident.

They were apologetic and gave me 5000 FF points.

It’s a fine line. But I spose the gent himself shouldn’t have boarded the plane.

Reply

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