Qantas passengers in toilet turmoil

[kpc]

A Qantas customer was forced to urinate in a sick bag after the airline refused to let passengers out of their seats during an extended landing.

I don't understand why they didn't let the pax's use the toilet when the aircraft was on the ground. Some airlines allow it, while others don't seem to...I assume it was a male passenger:shock:
Qantas passengers in toilet turmoil - Travel - smh.com.au

 

[v8Statesman]

I don't understand why they didn't let the pax's use the toilet when the aircraft was on the ground. Some airlines allow it, while others don't seem to...I assume it was a male passenger:shock:
Qantas passengers in toilet turmoil - Travel - smh.com.au

Reading the article the whole claim falls under "hearsay".

What's the bet it was a SMH employee trumping it up, or worse an AIR NZ staffer forced to fly QF that made the "claim"

 

[Mal]

Yep, the flight crew decided to play a nasty trick on passengers and force them to stay in their seats :shock:

I think the crew either forsaw turbulence in the area (shock, New Zealand in winter!), or were waiting for clearance to land which could come through at any time.

Only about 1/50th of the story is in the article, and I would trust a pilot any day over some random person with their expert opinion:
""It was a smooth flight up and there was no reason to keep everyone waiting for so long, but the pilot kept the lights on and wouldn't let anyone get out of their seat," he said."

 

[NYCguy]

I love the part where the woman was allegedly screaming "I NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET!". Someone should have done the hysterical-woman-in-"Flying High" routine on her; ie. a damn good slap in the face.:evil:

 

[thegurio]

I love the part where the woman was allegedly screaming "I NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET!". Someone should have done the hysterical-woman-in-"Flying High" routine on her; ie. a damn good slap in the face.:evil:

The issue with that is that the seat belt sign was on so they couldn't all line up for it...

 

[Alanslegal]

I was on a DJ flight, nearing the end of the descent we ended up flying in a holding pattern for quite some time and as some pax were busting to go to the looo, so an announcement was made by the FA that ""if you reallly really need to go and use the bathroom, you may do so at your own risk"".

 

[JohnK]

Yep, the flight crew decided to play a nasty trick on passengers and force them to stay in their seats :shock:

I think the crew either forsaw turbulence in the area (shock, New Zealand in winter!), or were waiting for clearance to land which could come through at any time.

Something is not quite right here. I cannot believe that someone would refuse you entry to the bathroom. I remember once mid flight during severe turbulence with the seat belt sign on I asked the flight attendants if I could go to the bathroom. They said no and that I would have to wait but when I said I could not wait any longer they allowed me to go but told me to be extra careful. The worst that happened was I bumped my head into the plastic walls once or twice. That is what you get when you spend too many hours in the QF lounge drinking beer....

 

[straitman]

The worst that happened was I bumped my head into the plastic walls once or twice.

.... and what was damaged :?: The walls or your head :!:

 

[JohnK]

You should know better than to ask those type of questions! The crew tried to give me an invoice for the necessary repairs when I was disembarking the aircraft.

 

[vt01]

I find Qantas pretty good with the seatbelt sign. It's turned off quite quickly after takeover... I can't say the same for AA. They tend to leave it on until they reach cruising altitude!
Add a few beers in the lounge, a delayed push back, a long taxi to takeoff, a long queue to takeoff and you have quite an extended wait for the bathroom! :shock::shock:

 

[simongr]

I found on BA/CX that unless the turbulence was really bad that in F the seat belt and staying seated seemed to be an optional extra. If the crew were seated then so were the pax. It seemed the same on AA in F as well I think - plenty of people standing on the descent whilst in F.

 

[adrian]

I think I was on that flight!

Okay, if this was the QF183 on 30 July (and it sounds like it is), then it isn't that much of a beat-up.

As a passenger, this is what happened:

About 30mins prior to scheduled landing, the seatbelt sign goes on. People were still lined up for the bathrooms, which is pretty usual.

The pilot attempts to land at Queenstown, but the winds are terrible, and the plane is really being thrown about. Generally, I like turbulence (I find it calming), but this was the scariest landing (or attempted landing) that I have been on - something about seeing a mountain outside your window as the plane is jumping about does that. (A passenger in row 3 or 4 had a blanket over her head, and was weeping out loud!)

So there's a good 10 mins or so of that, we can see the runway, about to land and the pilot pulls the plane back up. I'm really glad that he did.

About a 5 to 10 minute wait, and the pilot announces that we are going to land at Christchurch instead, about 500kms north, a not insignificant flight, and certainly enough time to turn the seatbelt sign back off. I think he said it would be about 40 mins of flying time. It is probably 30 minutes before we start to descend, and 45 minutes before we land, and another 5 minutes to the gate There was little or no turbulence during all of this time.

And yes, I was busting to use the restroom also! Really busting. I even asked the steward if I could really quickly use the restroom, and he (quite rightly as the sign was on) said I couldn't. There really wasn't any turbulence during this 30 minutes before the second descent, and I can't see why the sign couldn't have been turned off. I actually felt quite sick, and was sweating. Thankfully, I didn't have to use the sick-bag....

In the end, it was probably 75 minutes from the time the seatbelt sign went on, until we were allowed to use the restrooms. That doesn't seem like long, but keep in mind that most passengers were expecting to be on the ground in 30 minutes, not 75, and like myself, took that into account.

When the sign finally went off, I was in row 1, so I raced in first. We were kept on the plane while they were deciding what to do with us for about 20 to 30 minutes longer, and so there was a continuous long queue to use the restrooms. To their credit, the flight crew had to wait in line like everybody else.

So, yes, it was very uncomfortable.

And, we were bussed from Christchurch to Queenstown - about a 90 minute wait from arrival, and approximately 8 hr bus journey.

Sorry if I have shared too much.....