What happens when you just cannot hold it, but defy FAs in using the lavatory?
On my way back from Hawaii, the man across the aisle from me simply could not hold it. At least that’s what he said.
We had pushed back from the gate at HNL and FAs had almost finished the safety demonstration.
Suddenly, the man bolted from his seat. A FA yelled at him to sit down, but he shook his head and said, “I must use the lavatory NOW”. The FA responded that we were about to takeoff, but the man just brushed past her and into the lavatory.
She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. I could not hear the conversation, but figured she was either asking the captain to return to the gate or letting the purser or flight deck know there was a passenger in the lavatory.
The plane stopped.
About a minute later, the man came out and ran back to his seat.
Now came the moment of truth. Would we return to the gate?
Nope. We took off. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
But should the man have been removed? He defied a FA. He could have put others at risk had the plane really been about to takeoff. Finally, his bathroom break could have potentially cost us our takeoff slot and delayed everyone onboard. Thankfully Honolulu just isn’t as busy.
I’m reluctantly of the opinion that the man just had to use the loo…he meant no harm. But you can bet United would have been blamed (rightfully so) had this man created a bigger disturbance later in the air.
CONCLUSION
When something similar happened on British Airways, an 87-year-old listened to the FA, returned to her seat, suffered an accident, and sat in wet clothes for 10 hours. I think this was a better outcome.
Should there be any consequences when nature calls and a passenger simply cannot wait even longer?
> Read More: Inhumanity? 87-Year-Old Barred from Using Lavatory, Sits in Wet Clothes for 10 Hours
image: kafka4prez / FLICKR (CC2.0)
He should not have been thrown off. I think they handled it correctly. It’s a safety issue and you have to stop the plane but it seems the man was in genuine duress. Sometimes it happens. If he was drinking smuggled liquor and that’s why he had to go, then I might be of a different opinion.
This situation was handled correctly, when you have to go, you have to go. Flight attendant could have escalated this issue and would be blamed for using an excuse of a “Security Concerns”.
no one can control bowel movement and sometimes at the wrong moment.
Unless you have a medical issue, most can control their BM. Bladder is much more difficult and likely the issue.
I can relate b/c my daughter likes to wait until the last minute to pee and this frequently occurs right before landing.
It would be nice if FA would do a public service announcement and do a last call for the bathroom.
My stomach can be sensitive to dairy. Also, when traveling, it’s likely that you’ll be eating new/different things, which has the potential to present some issues. I’ve had “experiences” where if I were on a plane I would have had no choice but to disobey the FA–the consequences of not using the restroom at that exact moment aren’t even an option. I have a very expressive face though, so they’d probably be able to tell that it was serious lol
Garrett, please be aware that there are air or gas bubbles in your insides and at flight elevation these are more pressured than surroundings. This contributes to a feeling of needing to go.
Usually people can hold “do do” unless they have a big medical problem or severe diarrhea. Those people either should have diapers (if anus issue) or shouldn’t fly (if severe diarrhea).
The people who have to run at the last minute usually have a “pee” problem. They can urinate fairly quickly.
I had an egg sandwich from a Houston McDonald’s two hours before my flight to Dallas boarded. When I boarded, I was fine. The flight was delayed a half hour, by which time I was reacting to whatever was wrong with the sandwich. The onboard restroom was out of order. They had to pull the plane back to the gate and let three of us use the toilet. I barely made it.
I agree the man should not have been thrown off the flight for disobeying the flight attendant, and I’m glad it wasn’t escalated to that point. Smart behavior by this crew.
That woman who was forced to soil herself and her seat ends up being pretty good ammunition for anyone else who needs to go with some urgency! “Don’t make me soil myself like that poor woman on British Airways” would probably garner a little rationality, if not sympathy, from any FA who’d heard that story… and you can bet they all have.
The only factor against him in my mind here is that on a flight from Honolulu, it’s LESS LIKELY one of those situations where he had a tight connection between flights with no time to go to the bathroom in the terminal.
It seems to me we’re taking this whole abundance of caution/safety concern a bit too far. If the FA’s were still giving their safety demonstration, the plane was probably just taxing and not lining up on the runway for takeoff. So imminent harm to anyone seems a bit overblown. I live in New York city and take subways and buses all the time. There are plenty of people standing as subway car/buses lurch to and fro, swerve back and forth and stop suddenly. It is very rare that anyone is hurt (or a bystander is injured from someone else bumping into them). I’m not advocating letting everyone wander around the plane when taxing, but some perspective. Sounds like they did the right thing (tho I don’t think the FA needed to call the cockpit, IMO, unless the passenger remained in the restroom for a long period of time). And this is another reason not to drink gallons of water before a flight!
The title of this article makes it sounds as though the man was kicked off the flight, and you are posing the question of whether or not he should have been. – after reading the article, this was just click bait.
That is not the only way to read that.
Totally clickbait. Waste of my time.
Coy doesn’t really suit you, dear.
He could have put others at risk had the plane really been about to takeoff. Finally, his bathroom break — And HOW EXACTLY would put other in risk?? Take a big dump which would imbalance the plane while take off?? I think it is all of tryimg to aboid some accidents in batrooms and lawsuit thereafter.
If the plane was moving and had come to a sudden halt, he could have been thrown into sitting passengers.
Handled completely correctly by airline personnel. Anybody who thinks otherwise has swallowed the TSA/Security Theater Kool-Aide and is too prepared to sacrifice our humanity to blindly follow authority.
Nobody knows what that guy’s personal situation was, and I’d sooner defer to his judgment about the needs of his own body than to usurp it in favor of that of a flight attendant, pilot, or other erstwhile martinet.
I think the airline handled the situation well. Sometimes, a passenger has great need to use the onboard convenience.
Now if the economy passenger used a First Class lavatory, then I definitely think the offending passenger should have been arrested and banned for life…
I don’t see this being an issue at all and not a big deal. Yes, he defied FA instructions. But when you have to go, you have to go. The FA had common sense and probably have seen this scenario many times and just halted the plane until the passenger can come out. I’ve seen this happen on my flights. I have to agree with others that this is just click bait..
Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to me. I think the FA handled this one correctly. It sure looks like the poor guy needed to do 10-100 right away and the FA recognized it.
P.S. Sorry to pile on, but I agree with the others that this is a click-baity title…
Let me educate you all about Crohn’s disease. Perhaps this person is afflicted. For those of us that suffer, flying anywhere (for me, anything over 2 hours is a concern), is our biggest nightmare. Because we cannot just “hold it”, it basically just falls out of you. There is a card you can carry, issued by the Crohn’s and Colitis foundation, that one gives to FA’s at the start of a flight, explaining the condition and the need to use the facilities at times when its not ideal or allowed. For me, my flight prep includes eating nothing but eggs and oatmeal for 2 days before a flight (easily digestible), swallowing Imodium like its candy, eating nothing on the flight but a bit of bread and plain water, but bringing Tupperware so I can pack up all the food and eat it when I arrive. I feel for this guy.
I feel his pain as someone who had to pee and wait in the tarmac for more than 1 hour in LAX waiting for a gate to be assigned.
Many older men have a overactive bladder and when time calls they just can not wait. There is no pre warning. Yes there is a medication available for this condition, albeit very costly. Now I am not condoning what the gentlemen did, but it is better than sitting in wet pants. I am speaking with experience, I have this condition and try to plan for it but it there have been times it is embarrassing. I would have done the same thing this man did and explaine it to the Judge.
People to kick off (future) flights. How about the guy next to me, still talking on his iPhone when the plane was lined up for the take-off roll at ORD yesterday???
Has anyone thought that this poor man might have a prostate problem? Besides, it can be a very long time before one can use the restroom with the drink and food service carts in the isle.
Many medical conditions cause urinary frequency, so do many medications. Common sense prevailed in this case.
Some years ago, on a domestic flight in Korea we had just left the tarmac on take off when the rear lavatory door opened and an ancient Confucius-like man emerged. The FAs must have failed to see him go in and also failed to secure the door prior to departure.
The FAs rushes to help him, easier said than done on a 45 degree angle.
“He defied a FA.” Oooooooo… Only in the USA. This type of thing happens all of the time in the rest of the world and everybody just gets on with their lives. No reason to kick somebody off.
If he was just 1 minute in the bathroom, then it was almost certainly #1, not #2. I think it’s reasonable to expect people to manage their fluid intake / outtake, as they’ve only been practicing it all their lives. If you can be thoughtful enough to avoid a large fluid intake and have a preventive wee before a job interview or a court appearance or a funeral so you’re not making a scene 15–20 minutes in, you can exercise the same good judgement before getting on a plane. Christ.
Maybe in the moment the crew didn’t need to escalate this, but the precedent it sets is bothersome. More catering to people who don’t take responsibility for themselves = more of these problems in the long term.
I have been in situation exactly like this. The flight was delayed with passengers on board possibly because of the fueling issue, but I’m not sure because there was no official info. It was resolved in minutes but we missed our slot and had to wait almost an hour for take off . When the plane started to move I couldn’t hold it any longer and started walking towards the lavatories. Flight attendants tried to stop me and I explained that I couldn’t hold it anymore and that I wasn’t going to wet my pants and that were only two options: I use a lavatory or I am peeing on the floor. They chose lavatory and I was using it during the take off.
It was Virgin Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Miami. I don’t see why the author makes such a fuss about it, if a plane crashes during take off probability of dying increases negligibly if you are sitting on the toilet.