Man Forced To Urinate In Airsickness Bag On SkyWest Flight

[matcom]

<snip>

A Sandy man who says he was forced to urinate into an airsickness bag after a SkyWest Airlines flight attendant repeatedly denied him permission to use the bathroom received an apology from the company this week.

James Whipple said he was prevented from entering the bathroom during his flight from Boise to Salt Lake City last week, despite repeated pleas to the attendant.

"It was like I had no choice. I started to urinate on myself. So, thinking the way I thought, I grabbed one of those vomit bags," Whipple said.

"I didn't think I did anything wrong. I could have relieved myself all over my pants. It was almost like that was what she preferred me to do," he said.

On Wednesday, an airline representative apologized to Whipple on behalf of the attendant and promised to send him some travel vouchers.

But a SkyWest spokeswoman also said Whipple wanted to use the bathroom while the "fasten seat belt" light was illuminated, which is against Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The captain had switched on the "fasten seat belt" light during the hour-long flight because the bathroom was unusable - the light was out, Sabrena Suite-Mangum said.

"The safety of our passengers is of the utmost importance to SkyWest, and as such we expect all our employees to adhere to those federal regulations," Suite-Mangum said.

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_5458523

[jmowreader]

1. What was this, a King Air or something?

Last I checked, airliners generally have more than one lavatory. Little turboprop business planes have one lav, certainly, but every airliner I've been on that had more than 50 seats had at least one lav at each end...and quite a few of them had lavs in the middle.

Also...isn't going into the lav and locking the door to make sure the light comes on part of the daily checks on airliners?

[AllegroRondo]

3. there probably were two lavatories

but the working one was in first class. And of course, they cant let the peons in coach up there!

:shrug:

[kay1864]

5. Not true...

(see below)

Plus, there's no law that prevents a Coach passenger from using the First Class bathroom. I've seen lots of people do it.

[Decruiter]

15. You said peons!

:rofl:

[av8rdave]

4. That was probaby a 50 seat regional jet, which I believe has only one lav

[stuntcat]

2. scary

that story's kinda scary, I feel so bad for the guy.
It sounds like he kept his cool the whole time. I would've freaked out

[Orrex]

6. Why didn't he just pee out the window?

Oh, like you've never done that.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. That's a real pisser!

[fudge stripe cookays]

8. And if...

this had been a woman in the same situation, she would have peed all over the seat, not having the option to just "whip it out."

In addition to being foul-smelling, this would be a health hazard. What exactly would they have done then?

Sometimes, the human body does not recognize turbulence and must be accommodated.

[Orrex]

9. Finally!

And if this had been a woman in the same situation, she would have peed all over the seat, not having the option to just "whip it out."

At long last, a way for men to shift some of the blame for failing to "lift the lid." "See? She peed on the seat, too!"

[Phillycat]

10. Actually, urine is sterile.

So it wouldn't be a health hazard. You're right though, it would be EXTREMELY unpleasant both for the passenger and everyone else in the cabin.

[jmowreader]

16. Urine is NOT sterile!

That's something they like to tell people who've had their dicks pierced--urine's sterile, so you won't get an infection from peeing over your new piercing.

Urine contains the same bacteria as the rest of your body. Infection comes when a new organism is introduced to your body...but since your body and your pee contain the same organisms, chemicals and other things, there's no big problem.

To you it's effectively sterile, but to the rest of the world that's not the case.

[Phillycat]

17. Well, no.

If urine contains any significant bacteria, there's a problem. That means you have a urinary tract infection, or a bladder infection. Urine does NOT contain "the bacteria the rest of the body does". Urine will rarely contain a trace amount of bacteria, but it is effectively sterilized as well, because it is floating in...well, urine. :)

Now, it IS possible for urine to pick up bacteria on the external skin it touches on the way out - the vulvar area for women and the tip of the penis for men, but that is fairly unusual.

Here's a link:

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/qa-display/short/bmj_el;37654

[ohiosmith]

11. Bet he was glad he didn't have that bean burrito for breakfast.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

20. Or bran muffins. n/t

[graywarrior]

12. I can't decide what's more traumatic, pssing your pants or waking up next to a corpse.

[ohiosmith]

13. How about pissing your pants next to a corpse?

[graywarrior]

14. Being next to a corpse would make me piss my pants.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

18. Maybe threatening to sue would get their attention.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. He could have peed on her shoes

That might have made her change her mind.