There are many things that can delay or ground a flight. From rowdy passengers to technical difficulties, it is not uncommon for a flight to depart late or not depart at all. Although this issue is common, I can honestly say I have never been grounded for this reason. A JetBlue flight was grounded for hours after the flight crew refused to deal with this embarrassing issue.
Flight Grounded For Inability To Deal With Embarrassing Plumbing Issue
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I am sure that these JetBlue passengers were not expecting their flight to be grounded. Additionally, I am positive they were not expecting to be grounded for a plumbing issue. That's right, talk about crappy circumstances. The NY Post shared that "A JetBlue flight from Philadelphia to Boston was grounded for hours on Saturday." What was the reason for the severe delay? Apparently staff "were not will to remove poop clogging a busted toilet."
That's right folks, a fecal fiasco prevented this plane from taking off. The passengers boarded the plane as usually and had been sitting, waiting for takeoff for an hour when they got the news. The flight crew got on the intercom and informed everyone that they could not be leave due to the fecal incident. Apparently, the feces became lodged in one the aircraft bathrooms that was malfuncting and no one was volunteering to solve the issue.
The Passengers Try To Step In
Hilary Coulter, one of the passengers on board, spoke to the Post about the incident. She shared that the flight crew stated there was "a mechanical issue with one of the bathrooms." Due to this issue, everyone was asked to deboard the plane. Prior to this announcement, the passengers were repeatedly given false hope. "They said it was gonna be like, 15 to 20 minutes," Coulter admitted. "And then they said 15 to 20 minutes more." Eventually they came clean and told the JetBlue passengers the truth about why their flight was grounded.
Gat agents made the official announcement. "They told us the reason was that there were feces in the toilet that was broken on the palne," Coulter recalled. "And that staff was not willing to remove the feces, and we couldn't fly with feces in the toilet." Now, I am no expert so I don't know for certain whose job it is to remedy this senstive situation, but a clogged toilet seems like a realitively simple fix.
Apparently, I am not alone in my thinking as several passengers offered to solve the fecal fiasco themselves. Coulter told the outlet that at least two passengers volunteered. One man approached the flight crew and told them "I will clean it if it means we can take off." Unforuntatley for him and all the other passengers, he was turned away.
Eventually, it was decided that the embarrassing issue was unresolvable. As a result, JetBlue gave passengerst he choice to cancel for a refund or to rebook on another flight.
