Woman realizes she is sitting in urine soaked seat on airplane
By estherlou
@estherlou (5015)
United States
December 23, 2007 4:35pm CST
A woman flying from Florida to Boston sat down in her seat, and got her slacks wet. After going to the bathroom to check it out and wash up a bit, she realized she had sat in a urine-soaked seat and gotten urine all over her clothes and body. Disgusted, she complained to the flight attendant and was told someone had urinated on themselves on the previous flight. Well DUH! Why did the flight attendants allow someone to sit there knowing that? The woman took off her wet clothes, wrapped in a blanket and changed seats. When she arrived at her destination, she was told no one could get her luggage so she could change and she had to walk through the airport to baggage claim in the blanket. "An Air Tran representative said it is against federal regulations for airline personnel to retrieve passenger luggage. They said Air Tran is investigating the incident and will refund Castellano the purchase price of her ticket and refund the cost of the damaged clothing." Do you think the airline was right? Did they do enough to help this woman?
10 people like this
28 responses
@suehan1 (4344)
• Australia
23 Dec 07
no i don't think they did enough.firstly she should of been escorted off the plane,to a comfortable place and they should of got her bags so she could change,before she had to walk through the airport.as well of refunding the cost of her flight,i would have given her some free flights also,so that she would not talk to the media etc.some airlines are so slack,you can sit at a airport for hours on end due to a delayed flight,and they do not even give you a cup of coffee.cheers sue
3 people like this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
23 Dec 07
No, they didn't do enough. That should have been taken care of before the next set of passengers boarded the plane. I think that not only should they refund the ticket and the price of the clothing, but they should buy her a whole new set of clothing as well. And as for them not being able to retrieve luggage for passengers, I think they should be able to if the passenger authorizes it. I mean, for crying out loud...the poor woman was in a blanket! What happened to good old customer service? Did it go down the drain or what?
3 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
24 Dec 07
heck no she should have never had to walk thru the airport in a blamket seems like the airline could have gone bought her some clothes at one of the shop in the airport brought them to her and then she could go hget her luggage. and pay her for that ticket and offer her a free flight to and from some nice place of her choice!
1 person likes this
@ttmhiggins (14)
• United States
26 Jan 08
I'v eseen on an episode of the show Airline where they gave someone a pair of brand new employee pants. I think he smelled really bad and others were complaining. There are also usually stores in the airport. The airline or a representative of the airline could have bought her a pair of pants to wear if there was some law prohibiting them getting her luggage
@AmbiePam (85975)
• United States
24 Dec 07
How degrading. How could they miss that when they clean up between flights? At least they are supposed to clean up. It sounds like the woman maintained her calm, something I don't know if I could do. Good manners are so ingrained in me I'd probably be polite anyway, but I would think very seriously about suing. I don't advocate suing people on a whim, but this was something medically harmful. Another person's urine on her, that is just inexcusable.
2 people like this
@cynddvs (2948)
• United States
24 Dec 07
They should have either made an exception and gotten her luggage so she could have some clothes or they should have given her enough money to buy something to wear from one of the shops in the airport. Imagine how humilated she must have felt walking through the airport wrapped in a blanket. That's awful!
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (157865)
• United States
24 Dec 07
They should have sent someone else out to buy her something from the shops in the airport, and let her have some privacy. That thought occurred to me after I had already posted.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
24 Dec 07
That's pretty nasty. I do understand the reasons for not being able to retrieve her luggage, but it should have never happened in the first place. If they knew about it they should have made sure the person with that ticket didn't sit there - put a sign up or something.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
24 Dec 07
Oh, I forgot to add that once when I stayed at a hotel, one of the beds was wet. When I asked for a new room they acted like it wasn't a big deal. That was nasty too since I didn't find out about it until I went to lay down.
@southernpixie (741)
• United States
24 Dec 07
I don't think the airline did enough. If they knew that a previous passenger had urinated on the seat, it was their responsibility to clean the seat. I would demand a refund. That's just disgusting.
1 person likes this
@lpetges (3036)
• United States
23 Dec 07
that is horrible.,, next time i fly, i will check my seat really good. you know, i dont think they care how clean their planes are these days. i never use the pillows or blankets, they probably dont wash those either. i am not a fan of air tran, and wont buy a ticket from them for sure now.
1 person likes this
@subha12 (18441)
• India
24 Dec 07
i think she can very well sue the airline and drag them to court. Its really goss of the airlione how they did not checked the seat and all before allowing other set of passengers to sit? I really think the situation of this lady. Its very very gross and my GOd.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
29 Dec 07
It's a bit tricky considering the seat was allocated before any of this happened. If the maitenance crew were not able to replace the seat, the passenger should have been advised, prior to ruining her clothes and being forced to wear a blanket through the airport. She could have opted to take a different flight but I do think the staff should have done everything in their power to clean the seat even if it meant a slight delay for the flight. It's a shame this lady was made to suffer from thhis situation. I would have been mortified.
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
23 Dec 07
Well to start with if the airline attendants had not been so negligent her seat would not have had urine on it.They must have known since the attendant told her that someone had peed in their pants,and why the heck did they let someone sit there to start with.I cannot blame the lady for taking off her cloths, because the person who did that could have had a disease, i mean who knows and that can soak through your skin..I think she was put in a very bad postion having to walk through the airport like that,how embarressing for her.I think since it was their fault that they could have made an allowance...I think they should have refunded her money and paid for her clothing,but i think they could done better than they did.There is a lot of people that would have sued the airline, and who knows it isn't over yet...
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
23 Dec 07
the regulation sounds OK, but she wouldn't need her luggage if they cleaned up the urinated seat in the first place. the airline will have to compensate her, they will surely lose big if she file a lawsuit against them. I thought stewards would check the seats in between flights, or did they not do this anymore?
@jillmalitz (5131)
• United States
26 Dec 07
I am surprised that the airline did not find this out between flights. Unless it was just a short layover, they usually do at least a little cleaning between flights given enough time. Then again, the crew should have noticed something before any passengers boarded the plane. They could have at least replaced the seat. I think they mishandled this! While it is true that airline personnel cannot retrieve passenger luggage, she should not have been made to walk through the airport like that.
1 person likes this
@angelface23 (2494)
• United States
24 Dec 07
I think that the airline should have changed planes altogether cause even people sitting in the area are going to smell it for however long the flight was. They should have just gotten a new plane. I'm not sure what could have been done if another plane wasn't available. Maybe try to clean it up or spray something on it to take the smell away. I would be so pissed off if I sat in some pee on a plane. I think they had to refund her money though. It's not their fault that someone peed on the seat but she shouldn't have to suffer cause of it.
@smartx (319)
• India
29 Jan 08
This is pathethic ..I think this is worst customer service ever..I think you can challenge this in court and earn a compensation lol..
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
25 Dec 07
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just disgusting!! Since the flight attendant knew about it, she should of cleaned the seat up or just not let anyone sit in it. Yuck!!!!!!!!!
@ChaJudLeoBit (1656)
• United States
11 Jul 08
That is just horribly irresponsible of the flight crew to not bother cleaning it up. Surely the flight wasn't so overbooked that they couldn't have moved her and not let that seat be used at all. That is really gross. Makes me think of a new ride they put in at our amusement park. They had a water hose available so they could clean up all the vomit. They didn't expect anyone else to sit in it, so why would the airline not think about the next person who had to sit in that seat?!??!
And no, I think they were being a bunch of jerks making her traips around without any clothes. I think rules can be bent slightly for extenuating circumstances.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
24 Dec 07
Oh, this is disgusting. I feel sorry for the poor lady. There are rules but when something as awful as this happens the airline should have done more for the lady. They could have somehow got permission to get the luggage the lady had with her. Then she could have changed in the bathroom on the plane. I think it must have be been upsetting for her to walk with a blanket around her legs. Of course the airline was negligent allowing anyone to sit in that seat if they did know what had happened on the previous flight. I think the airline is not giving the lady enough to say sorry. I think they need to give a her a voucher for a future flight and a voucher to buy more clothing. Just refunding what she spent on the flight is not good enough. It is positive that they gave her the money her ruined clothes were worth.
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
2 Jan 08
Well, what else could they do, other than they should have cleaned the seat in the first place. I know after the plane gets to it's destination the stewardesses are supposed to walk around and check the plane for any mess that some one left behind. I am surprised that they missed the wet seat. How is it the woman who sat in it didn't see it or the other people who were sitting in the seats beside it, see it. I guess it may have been soaked into the fabric on the seat and not noticeable. What more could the airline do to help this woman. I would think that she could have hung her pants up in the bathroom and let them dry abit and then put them back on when she got off the plane. I know they would smell but if she rinsed them in the bathroom before she hung them to dry it wouldn't have been so bad. I would rather stink in damp pants than walk around the airport with a blanket around me.
