PSA- DO NOT go to the bathroom on an active runway
 

For the gentleman in C+ last night on the flight from ATL-GSP I hope ya learned your lesson.....lost our take off slot and had to go to the back of the line....people!

I did it just for you. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

I sprayed after.

Had this happen a few years ago on an DEN-ATL flight. The passenger was ill and apparently had already alerted the FA's that he may need to use the facilities. Sure enough, he jumped up to use the lav just as we were approaching the runway for takeoff. Why they let him board in the first place when they knew he was ill I have no idea. We ended up having to pull off to the side and wait about 15 minutes for him to finish. To add insult to injury, I ended up missing my ATL-DTW flight (last of the day) by about 10 minutes and DL refused to provide a hotel room because they said the DEN-ATL flight was delayed due to ATC (partially true as it was late inbound from MSP to DEN, but clearly not the whole story).

Sorry to tell you, but there aren’t “take off slots” to GSP. Those only exist for the extremely busy airports and only at certain times. The pilots probably said that this happened to passenger shame and provoke the other passengers ire towards this person.

Getting up during taxi, takeoff, turbulence, and landing is dangerous for oneself and other passengers who you might fall on. However, if the choice was this or soil oneself, I can guess what I’d choose.

OP says the flight was from ATL. I can certainly see ground/ATC having the plane pull to the side if it's not ready for takeoff and then losing its turn in line (aka, vernacurlarly, a "take-off slot"). Whether they actually just made the plane wait until it was ready or re-sequenced it at the end of the line at that point is probably hard to say, but OP seems to imply the latter. And it was probably ATC just doing it punitively/out of spite (they probably want to discourage these last-minute "not ready"s, regardless of the reason).

Yes, I agree. :-/

In the PMNW days, I was on a RJ where a bunch of rowdy guys boarded and were really so obnoxious to everyone that a GA boarded to tell them to behave. When we were third in line to takeoff, one rushed from coach to the FC lav while a second guy from the group ran to the back lav. FA got on the phone to cockpit and we pulled off to the side. When everyone was seated again, the captain announced that the wind had changed and we would be going to a different runway. After a long tour around the tarmac (and IIRC some communications between the lead FA and the pilots) we returned to the gate where police cars were now parked. The two lav users were offloaded (and arrested I later learned) then about twenty more names were announced to come to jetway with all their belongings (offloaded too but not arrested). This entire bunch of local (suburban) police officers had been drinking heaving in airport bars before their morning flight to some pro sports event. PMNW knew who they all were because they had purchased group tickets.

So using the lavatory on an active runway can lead to not just being offloaded but also being arrested.

I always thought this was common knowledge. I've also always wondered why flight crews don't directly say something along the lines of "If you leave you're seat while we are taxiing to the runway, you will delay the flight." I know sometimes emergencies happen, but I bet there are those pax out there who simply aren't aware of the consequences.

The offender was wearing a Clemson hat so it would not had made a difference tell him!

There was a Delta flight where a passenger was kicked off after using the bathroom while the plane taxxing.

I hope you didn't flush twice!

To taxi back into the sequence they do need to go back in line, which is technically not a slot, but still the same result. I don't see a need for ATC to give that aircraft priority to taxi around the other planes in line (assuming that is even possible). Don't think the pilots have any intention to shame the passenger, they do just want to explain what really happened.

Kinda weird to do it out in the open with planes taxiing by... i hope he at least was smart enough to go downwind from jet blasts..:D

Dang. I was hoping this was about a human squatting on the airport tarmac....

While the airport itself may not have a slot, the route to that airport may have windows of availability. So I am going to challenge your blanket dismissal.

Slot can have multiple meanings. Yes, certain airports have slots that limit takeoff/landing numbers. However this is different from an ATC slot which is simply a space in the ATC system allowing the flight to be in the air. Think of it like a red\green light on an interstate on ramp. The light is allowing cars to get on when a "slot" is available for the car on the interstate. If you have to pull away for whatever reason you'll need to wait for another slot to become available.