Plane delays are the last thing a passenger needs to face after going through a strenuous process to get to their flight seats in the first place, not to mention the aggravated flight fares due to current levels of inflation. Delayed flights lead to unwanted crisis clamor on flights.
People reported an unfamiliar incident where an easyJet flight was canceled on a Sunday even after it was delayed for several hours. People acquired the information from passenger Kitty Streek, who shared a video of the pilot announcing the cancellation on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“So we’re now staying the night here,” the pilot was reported saying in the aforementioned video in question, which was met by collective groans and exasperated sighs from the already waiting passengers. Word that someone defecated in front of the toilet on the floor of the plane sent one passenger exclaiming, “Who s— on the floor? No way,” as witnessed on the shared video clip.
Streek spoke to CNN of her experience on the flight from Tenerife, a Spanish island, to London Gatwick Airport, calling it “very frustrating.” She said, “We obviously can’t prove whether the person simply had an accident or if they had done this out of anger for the delayed flight, but it was hard not to be angry either way,” the London resident added, “Nobody wants to be stranded in another country.”
Real good of @easyJet to delay the flight 3.5 hours with 0 communication then decide to cancel it altogether because someone took a shit on the toilet floor🤯 quite literally couldn’t make this shit up🥲 #easyjet pic.twitter.com/E9lpCA4rew
— kitty florence lucia (@kittystreekx) October 16, 2023
Aaran Gedhu, another passenger of the canceled flight, also spoke to CNN about the Sunday incident, acquired via People ‘that the scheduled plane was swapped for a smaller aircraft before boarding began, and some passengers have turned away at the gate as a result. Those who were permitted to board did so for two hours. Gedhu reiterated the incident to CNN, saying, “The delayed, the tightly-packed flight had an atmosphere of “suspense and anger,” continuing, “So everyone was just a bit tense,” adding, “Then, the pilot finally gave the all-clear, and said that it will be about 20 minutes until departure. And that’s when the incident happened with the defecation.”
Gedhu continued in his statement to CNN, recalling that after two passengers visited the washroom, word spread that someone had excreted on the floor, and after a while, the stench enveloped the entire unit, confirming the rumor. He continued, “There was no fighting amongst the passengers,” adding, “It was just a very uncomfortable experience,” he continued. “Obviously, the plane was in an unsanitary state. So they had to get external cleaners out from the airport to clean it. So that’s when the stairs reconnected, and the cleaners came on to deep-clean the flooring.” People report Gedhu’s statement where he said, ‘After the flight was officially canceled, passengers had to wait another half-hour before they could deplane, Gedhu told CNN, adding that he was put up in a hotel overnight and — as the pilot promised — boarded a “rescue” flight the next day.’
The airline said in their statement in relation to the Sunday incident as acquired by People, “Some bags were offloaded to be carried on the next available flight for safety reasons, due to the aircraft being overweight,” the airline said in the statement, adding that the flight was “subsequently delayed overnight due to the aircraft requiring additional cleaning.” The statement also reflected the airline’s claim, “it advised any customers who booked their own that they will be reimbursed.”
“The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and while this was outside of our control we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Flight incidents take place when people are least expecting it. Hence, stricter protocols must be taught to the cabin crew to handle such situations because not always will the passengers be so cooperative and understanding.