Southwest Passenger Was Flying to Atlanta for Work. Then Her Seatmate’s Private Emergency Became Impossible To Ignore: ‘Shat Their Pants’
Some flight stories are impossible to forget, no matter how many years pass
A work trip can go wrong in plenty of ways. A delay or a bad seat can make a flight difficult, and sometimes the person sitting next to you adds a problem you never saw coming. But Turnter’s first work trip took that idea to a whole different level.
TikTok creator Turnter (@yo.mama.turnter) was on her first flight for a new job, traveling from Dallas to Atlanta. She had managed to get a window seat near the back of the plane, and at first, everything seemed to be going her way.
Then, about 45 minutes into the flight, the woman in the middle seat started looking sick. Turnter tried to mind her own business and kept playing Candy Crush. But what happened next made that nearly impossible.
Nobody prepares you for this
Turnter recently shared the story three years after the incident. At the time, she had just started a job that required her to travel every Sunday through Thursday. She recalled having been on only about two flights before starting the job.
The Southwest flight was traveling from Dallas Love Field to Atlanta. Two women who knew each other occupied the middle and aisle seats beside Turnter and appeared to be heading to a conference.
Around 45 minutes into the flight, Turnter noticed the woman beside her becoming uncomfortable. The passenger tried to wake her friend and get up. But according to Turnter, the color washed from the woman’s face, and she quickly sat back down.
The woman grabbed an airsickness bag and vomited. Turnter initially blamed the smell on that, until she looked down and claims she saw brown liquid running down the passenger’s legs and pooling around her ankles. She described it as sitting next to someone who “shat their pants.”
Bathroom problems in the middle of a flight can make things uncomfortable fast. In this case, however, the woman apparently hadn’t made it out of her seat.
The woman began using whatever paper she could find to clean herself, including napkins from her snack. Turnter claims she then pulled down her tray table and started placing the used napkins on top of it.
Despite sitting directly beside her, Turnter tried not to react. She described herself at the time as “very Midwestern nice” and continued playing Candy Crush to avoid making the woman feel more embarrassed.
Eventually, the passenger apologized. “Once it comes out of one end, it just starts coming out the other,” Turnter recalled her saying.
Flight attendants soon noticed what was happening and brought towels to help with the cleanup. Turnter later pointed to the incident as a reason to be kinder to flight attendants. “You literally don’t know the shit that they’re going through,” she joked.
About 30 minutes remained in the flight by the time the visible mess had been cleaned up. After landing in Atlanta, the passenger reportedly requested a wheelchair because she was embarrassed.
That left Turnter stuck by the window. She could either wait for the woman to be taken out or grab her backpack and climb over her. Since she needed to get to work, Turnter chose the second option.
She headed to her hotel and claims she took a three-hour shower. The experience also left the new traveler wondering, “Are people always going to shit their pants when I fly?”
The story quickly followed her to work. After her coworkers and boss heard what happened, Turnter claims she received a “shitty seatmate” award at the company’s awards ceremony about two months later.
Viewers were horrified. “No the vomiting alone would have sent me into panic attack,” one person wrote, while another joked, “I just cancelled a flight I didn’t even have.”
Others couldn’t get past the cleanup. “on the tray table is NUTS,” one viewer wrote. A flight attendant added, “I unfortunately have witnessed a few code browns.”
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