Man Causes Big Stink on Plane (Literally) — Causes Emergency Landing

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Scott:   The oxygen masks could not come down fast enough.

Several major news outlets are reporting an airline full of folks on vacation heading to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria were forced to endure an emergency landing caused by a man who smelled like he hadn’t bathed for several weeks.

The “olfactory disturbance” sickened passengers.  Customers began involuntarily vomiting after the plane took off from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.  Others fainted.

Fortunately, food is not complimentary on the low-cost airline, or it would have been made worse.

The Express reports that Belgian passenger Piet van Haut described the smell of the man as “unbearable.”  And continued, “It was like he hadn’t washed himself for several weeks.  Several passengers got sick and had to puke.”

While few are quick to shower the Transavia flight attendants with praise, they reportedly tried to pull the putrid passenger into the toilet, where such smells are more tolerated.  But then the pilots turned up the nose to divert the flight.

They landed in the Portuguese city of Faro where the egregiously-scented man was escorted into a bus.

Transavia, a budget airline, officially announced the emergency landing was due to “medical reasons.”

My Take

I do hope the man gets the medical or psychological help he needs.  However… the customer in question did not board the airplane then suddenly develop a case of the stinkies.

Airport staff need to be empowered and trained to deal with these situations.  This is not the first very smelly person to victimize others on a flight.  While we all want to be sensitive to those who have special needs, we must use common sense when there is no escape for other passengers.

There are people who need serious psychiatric help who probably should not be on airplanes without a medical helper because they’ll endanger other passengers.  And this is exactly one of those cases.  When a person smells so awful that others are vomiting and passing out, it’s not in anyone’s best interest to allow that person to fly.  For causing such pain to those onboard, the nausea-inducing gentleman likely feels as bad as he smells.  This all could have been prevented.

Not The First Time Transavia Has Had This Issue This Year

In February, this same airline, Transavia, was forced to make an emergency landing because a passenger could not or would not stop farting.

This butt trumpeting resulted in a brouhaha between passengers after they asked the man to cease from his crease.  He did not.  And the plane had to divert and land.

You Can Do It Too!

You can book flights between European destinations on Transavia with Flying Blue miles.

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Yes, I did write that section with a straight face.  Or not.

Your Turn

What do you think should be done in situations like this?  Have you ever had a flight completely ruined by another passenger?