A United Airlines flight bound for Seattle took an unexpected detour to Dallas last Friday due to an unforeseen predicament — a literal “s–tstorm” caused by a messy accident in the aisle. A Redditor, who was on board, took to the platform to share the stinky ordeal, attributing the diversion to a dog’s untimely bowel movement. United Airlines later confirmed the incident to Business Insider.
“Dog had messy accident in the aisle right in first class. Plane diverted to DFW. Ground crew spent over 2 hours cleaning carpets with paper towels,” recalled the Redditor in a post on Sunday, describing the unpleasant experience that left passengers feeling ill.
“The smell made me ill. Gate agents kept yelling at passengers and the cabin crew. The smell never quite went away. First class toilet declared unusable as the dog mess was apparently unresolved in there. Food went bad while on the ground so very few snacks left,” the post detailed.
While United representatives were reached out to for comment, the airline’s policy permits dogs aboard domestic flights as long as they remain in carriers under the seat. Reddit commenters chimed in with their own anecdotes, sharing similar foul experiences involving pets on planes.
“I was on a flight once where there was a service dog. (Chicago to Allentown.) Flight was turbulent. The moment that flight landed and got to the gate, and that exit door opened, that dog beat everyone off the plane and s–t all over the jetway,” recounted one commenter.
Another commenter expressed a belief that dogs should only fly when unavoidable, while a third argued for stricter regulations regarding pets in public spaces.
This incident isn’t isolated, as a similar occurrence transpired on a United Airlines flight in February, where a dog, escaping its crate, caused disruption by defecating onboard, prompting flight attendants to don “hazmat-type suits” for cleanup duty.