Drinking and Flying Can Get Exciting

I feel sorry for this poor guy:

SkyWest Airlines has apologized to a passenger barred from a plane's restroom by a flight attendant.

James Whipple says that after repeated pleas to empty his beer-filled bladder on a recent flight, he finally found relief - with an air sickness bag.

Now, the Sandy man says SkyWest has issued him an apology for his distress.
"It was like I had no choice. I started to urinate on myself. So, thinking the way I thought, I grabbed one of those vomit bags," Whipple said.

"I didn't think I did anything wrong. I could have relieved myself all over my pants. It was almost like that was what she preferred me to do," he said.

On Wednesday, an airline representative apologized to Whipple on behalf of the attendant and promised to send him some travel vouchers.

But a SkyWest spokeswoman also said Whipple wanted to use the bathroom while the fasten-seatbelt light was illuminated. That is against Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

The captain had switched on the fasten-seatbelt light during the hour-long flight because the bathroom was unusable - the light was out.

Don't they have flashlights on these planes? You'd think they could come up with some sort of creation solution that would prevent this sort of thing.

Of course, loading up on liquids (alcoholic or otherwise) before you get on a plane is never a good idea since you never know if turbulence might require you to stay in your seat for a long stretch. Because I'm 6'5" and don't like to have to climb over other people to get to the restroom, I try to avoid drinking much before getting on a long flight.

The airlines are already suffering from a perception that passenger comfort is not a high priority, and this story won't help.