A business class passenger has been banned from all United Airlines flights after urinating on a sleeping fellow traveller during a long-haul journey from San Francisco to Manila, Phillippines.
The incident occurred on December 27 when Jerome Gutierrez, from Hillsborough, California, was asleep in his business class seat during what was meant to be a 15-hour flight.
Gutierrez woke up to find himself soaked from the stomach down in another man’s urine, four hours into the journey.
“He was asleep and buckled in and was surprised when he looked at the man and thought he was dreaming,” his stepdaughter Nicole Cornell said.
The incident took place on board a long-haul flight from San Francisco to Manila
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The perpetrator, who was reportedly a complete stranger, had chosen to relieve himself directly onto the sleeping passenger rather than using the aircraft’s facilities.
Flight attendants provided Gutierrez with pyjamas to change into after the incident.
The crew warned him not to approach the man who had urinated on him, fearing a potential confrontation could turn violent.
United Airlines spokesperson Anoushah Rasta confirmed there had been a “disturbance” on the flight.
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United Airlines have now banned the offending passenger
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“We have banned this passenger,” Rasta said.
Police were requested to meet the aircraft upon its arrival in Manila.
Cornell strongly criticised United Airlines’ handling of the biohazard situation.
She said: “I am so disgusted and in shock with how United Airlines handled this!
“That is a biohazard, and the plane should’ve turned around to address this issue.
“They put the needs of the airline before my stepdad’s health.”
According to reports, the perpetrator attempted to avoid legal consequences by begging Gutierrez for forgiveness and pleading with him not to press charges.
United Airlines confirmed the incident, referring to it simply as a “passenger disturbance” in their official statement.