Worst Passenger of the Week: The Dos and Don’ts of Lavatory Etiquette

Every Friday, FlyerTalk looks back at the week’s most charming individuals. While there are always plenty of contenders for our Worst Passenger of the Week award, only one lucky flyer can take home the glory. Here are this week’s winners.

Third Place – DO Wait for the Aircraft to Finish Taxiing; DON’T Threaten to Decapitate Crew Members

When Rapper Rich the Kid, aka Dimitri Leslie Roger needed to use the toilet, he simply couldn’t wait for his American Airlines flight to taxi to the terminal. Shortly after landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the music producer and hip-hop artist instead reportedly made a mad dash to the lavatory to relieve himself following the long flight – well before the plane reached the gate and the captain had turned off the “Fasten Seatbelts” sign.

According to eyewitnesses, the rapper declined to return to his seat despite repeated requests from flight attendants. At this point, a travel companion described as Roger’s road manager, stepped in to escalate the situation dramatically. After vigorous debate with flight attendants over the restrictions involved with a grown man’s right to use the restroom, the manager became somewhat frustrated and allegedly resorted to telling one airline employee, “I will cut your head off!”

Both unruly men were escorted from the plane by police upon arrival at the gate. While the manager was being taken into custody, his celebrity employer was free to take video footage of the interaction with officers (until being ordered to stop filming). In a since-deleted Instagram post, the rapper told his side of the story – “I wanted to use the restroom.”

The rapper also took a moment to warn his followers not to fly American Airlines. “Do not ride American Airlines,” he advised viewers. “This is Rich the Kid speaking and I want to let you know American Airlines will racially profile you.”

This was, of course, similar to advice Rich the Kid has offered before. Following an incident aboard a Delta Air Lines flight in March of last year, the rapper took to social media to tell his followers to complain about that airline’s flight attendants as well explaining that a “rusty-[redacted] [redacted] called the police on me for playing music!”

The Runner-up – DO be Considerate of Fellow Passengers; DON’T Smear Feces Everywhere

Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight headed from Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) were saved from an exceptionally crappy flight when the captain made an unscheduled stop at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) to remove a passenger who was “smearing feces everywhere.”

The last-minute stop before heading across the Pacific Ocean may have saved those aboard from a long unpleasant journey, but the man’s in-flight feces-flinging mayhem resulted in the Boeing 777 being taken out of service overnight for maintenance and presumably a thorough scrubbing.

Although the troublemaking passenger spent a portion of the flight allegedly covering at least two lavatories and at one point, removing and attempting to flush his own shirt down the toilet, he was reportedly quite cooperative with crew members by the time the plane arrived in Alaska. According to police, the disruptive flyer was peacefully sitting in his seat when officers boarded the aircraft to remove him.

Despite the whole messy ordeal, officials say that no charges were filed against the accused lavatory vandal. Instead, the poo-smearing passenger was taken to a local hospital for psychological evaluation, observation. and presumably a thorough scrubbing.

The Winner – DO Clean up after Yourself; DON’T Dare Police Officers to Arrest You

A passenger at Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) managed to get banned from both Spirit Airlines and his local airport because of his messy bathroom habits. Police say Dante Bencivenga needlessly escalated an embarrassing faux pas into a criminal matter after being challenged over his allegedly lax toilet hygiene practices and rather poor aim.

The 58-year-old with limited potty training first came to the attention of gate agents when an airline employee noted that a slumbering passenger at the gate “smelled like alcohol.” Later, when Bencivenga was ordered off his flight after he allegedly urinated “all over the toilet and carpet” of the plane’s lavatory prior to departure, the gate agent diligently booked the bathroom challenged passenger on a flight scheduled for the following day.

According to the police report, the airline employee earned a profanity-laced tongue lashing rather than a thank you. It seems, like many winners before, rather than being shamed, this Worst Passenger of the Week grew increasingly more defiant.

After refusing several requests from police to leave the terminal, the loudly shouting passenger argued that he was not in fact intoxicated. Bencivenga is said to have asked several times to take a breathalyzer test to prove his case, but officers say he refused the breathalyzer when he was eventually given the opportunity to take the blood alcohol (BAC) test.

“I’m not leaving,” Bencivenga reportedly told responding officers. “Go ahead and put the bracelets on me.”

His request was granted moments later. According to local media reports, the sloppy air traveler is now facing charges that include “trespassing and disorderly intoxication in a public place.”