unitedhandcuffs

i think they just burn the plane

Fizzer

It reminds me of a distressing at the time, but retrospectively amusing, episode I had flying from LHR. I was in an aisle seat in Y seated next to a charming Irish lady, who regaled me with her stories about her friend, Roddy Doyle, the well known Irish novelist and screenwriter. As we were landing, with the FAs belted and secured, she hurriedly informed me that she gets airsick, grabbed her airsickness bag and proceeded to fill it. And I mean fill it. She then hurriedly handed it to me, grabbed my bag from the seat pocket and started on that too. Meanwhile I was left with fastening and then holding a warm and squishy bag, securing it in one palm while holding the top gingerly with another, because I was not confident in its strength and ability to retain the contents. All the time there was the nausea inducing and pungent aroma of fresh vomit, enhanced by the sounds of wretching from my immediate left. All that I could do was gag back my own nausea and hope for a smooth landing because any bump and the contents were going everywhere.
After landing I couldn't put the bag down because it was so full it was bound to leak. I meekly wandered down the aisle to disembark, handing it to a horrified FA at the door, with reassurances that it really wasn't mine. I was mortified at the time but looking back I'm not sure what could have been done differently.

seenitall

No, I think it goes on the second-hand market and UA scoops it up as cheap addition to the fleet.

catocony

Barf isn't really a biohazard, no more so than a sneeze.

I have some sympathy for barfers, as long as it's not caused by getting drunk or eating a large bowl of Indian food or something while the plane is in the air. I've never had to myself, although I nearly did one time. We were flying right over some heavy weather cells and it was about 10 minutes of the worst turbulance I've ever ridden through. By far the worst, and about the only time a seatbelt has kept me in my seat.

Quite a few people did blow chunks, and thankfully the 737 was half empty.

764toHI

Don't you mean Delta?

Wayside

Hey just be glad this didn't happen on your flight!

http://abc11.com/archive/9534913/

thejaredhuang

I was on a flight where a kid barfed. They pulled out the red trash bags and had a newer FA scrub their row of 3 seats. They went back to their seat after 30-45 min.

bmustaf

I spent many years as a firefighter and an EMT. This is not true. Vomit is definitely biohazard, and MUCH more opportunity for pathogens than a sneeze (and a sneeze has plenty, too, BTW).

Blood can occur in vomit (and does frequently) as can any number of pathogens (sometimes people vomit because their body is trying its hardest to rid itself of something it identifies as undesirable, sometimes people are just motion sick, you don't know - do you really want to find out?).

Gloves, eye protection, resp. mask, and plenty of sanitizing afterwards was always the protocol on vomit. Sometimes it didn't get followed due to the situation, but that doesn't mean the threat is any less severe.

Definitely biohazard. Definitely worse than a sneeze.

pon18n

Just last month I was flying to NRT. As soon as I landed, I got super nauseated on the train ride into town. I barely made it to my accommodation before I hurled one of the nastiest barf I'd had on the toilet bowl.

Three days before the flight, my dad was just vomiting. My mom did the next day. It's very likely that I contracted norovirus from them.

Now, I understand all the need for quarantine to stop epidemics, but in practice this is really hard. I was not aware I already contracted norovirus at the time, and if I were to ground myself from flying every time I came into contact with someone who has any kind of disease, then I'd never left ground. Also, I'm not sure if the airlines are quite sympathetic if passengers routinely move their flights around 1 day before departure for these reasons.

Norovirus is highly contagious and became aerosol particles upon vomiting. If I were to hurl in the confined space of a plane I can imagine it gets bad pretty quickly. Cleaning up wouldn't really help that much because most of the virus particles would've already spread from the hurling action alone.

So, yes, vomiting in the cabin could lead to some really nasty epidemic outbreak. But no, I can't really think of any better solution right now.

Proudelitist

I have seen alot of barf on alot of planes over the years. The FA's tend to get on it right away, put down a kind of dessicant that is also scented, spray down, and dispose of what they can.

The exception is during landing when it just sits wherever it falls.


I was on a Norwegian flight last year from LAX to CPH..I had a "good" view of the mid cabin lavs. The flight was smooth as silk, no turbulence. Around the middle of the flight an overweight teen kid runs up, finds the lavs occupied, drops to all fours, and proceeds to vomit like a dog in the aisle. All 5 FA's were on it with masks, gloves, biohazard bags, powder, and air freshener.

They put the kid in the jumpseat and gave him some water. Eventually his mom came to get him..but it seemed to take awhile.

I had the same aircraft on the return, and saw the stain on the floor where he was sick. Two weeks later.

Oddly, on the way back CPH-LAX, another guy ended up having to run to the lav a few times (also a smooth flight) , and looked as pale as a ghost. He was getting lots of attention from the FA's. He didn't make a mess in the lav or in the aisle...however he did end up making a huge mess at the baggage claim where he threw up on the floor. I heard a page go out on the PA to send a cleaning crew to that claim.

callmedtop

My SO was traveling on a one-hour flight on United this evening, when her seatmate vomited all over her, her shoes, and her coat. She apparently had a stomach virus for a couple of days, and as to why she got on the plane in this condition is beyond me.

Worse yet, this happened on the ground prior to take off. United provided my SO only with a few wet paper napkins to clean up. The sick passenger was in the bathroom for the majority of the flight. United did offer my SO to move to a empty middle seat further back, but (surprisingly...) my SO declined, as she didn't want to have to march through her seatmates vomit (which was not yet cleaned up) and parade herself down the aisle covered in vomit. I think I'm missing something here but my SO gets embarrassed easily and hated the idea of other passengers thinking she was the one who in fact got sick.

The passenger (rudely) did not proactively offer to pay for my SO's dry cleaning or ruined shoes, and when my SO asked, the woman provided her with a phone number and then ran off the plane. The phone number is not an active line.

The FA's told my SO there is nothing that can be done other than to fill out an online complaint. I conceptually understand that the incident is not the airlines fault, but two things make me hesitate:

1. Why could the plane not have been sent back to the gate prior to take-off? A big inconvenience but no worse than making my SO sit in vomit for the entire flight (not to mention removing the sick passenger, who spent the rest of the flight in the bathroom). The incident occurred during taxiing and the FA's were up in the cabin when it occurred (they were not seated for takeoff).
2. Why was there no bio-hazard removal kit on board to clean off my SO and her seat? Instead the FA gave her a big to put her dirty coat in, as well as some wet paper napkins. This seems very unsanitary and inappropriate.

FWIW she is a United Platinum and was traveling in Economy Plus.

Is it worth contacting United and asking for an explanation on points #1 and #2, and even compensation? Not trying to get a free lunch here, but her shoes need to be thrown out, and all of her clothes (and high-end coat) need to be dry-cleaned.

aacharya

I'd absolutely ask for compensation as well as the passenger's actual name/contact information. That might be hard to get without a police report.

sannmann

I know that spitting on someone is considered assault. But, what about vomiting on someone? My guess is United would require a court order to release another passenger's contact info to someone else. I doubt flight attendants are really trained on how to handle situations like this.

keisari

I can't imagine being vomited on unintentionally is a crime in any jurisdiction in the US.
On the other hand, if I vomit on anybody, I would pull out a few bills (to cover cleaning or new clothes) with lots and lots of apologies
I understand a child vomiting on somebody but an adult should be careful when they are going to vomit and should know better.

mduell

The obvious would be inconveniencing 1 vs ~150. The damage is already done, why spread it around?