United Airlines suspended man for allegedly urinating on sleeping passenger

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A man has been banned by United Airlines after he allegedly urinated on another passenger midway into a flight. The unidentified man was travelling aboard UA Flight 189 from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Manila, Philippines last month when he got up from his seat, four hours into the flight and started peeing on Jerome Gutierrez, who was travelling in business class and was asleep at the time.


"He was asleep and buckled in and was surprised when he looked at the man and thought he was dreaming," Nicole Cornell, Gutierrez's stepdaughter, was quoted as saying by the New York Post.


It was only after the man was done peeing that Mr Gutierrez realised that he was soaking from his stomach down to his feet in someone else's urine.


As per Ms Cornell, the flight attendants told Mr Gutierrez to not approach the man, fearing it would lead to a confrontation, which could further escalate the situation.


"They put the needs of the airline before my stepdad's health. 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."


United Airlines confirmed the incident saying there was "a passenger disturbance" on the flight in question and that the perp had been "banned".


"On December 28 we asked police to meet our flight when it arrived in Manila to address a passenger disturbance. We have banned this passenger," the airline said.

Also Read | Indian Man On Board New York-Delhi Flight Pees On Co-Flyer: Sources

Previous instances

This is not the first instance when such an incident has been reported on a flight. In April last year, an Indian man travelling from New York to Delhi urinated on a co-passenger on an American Airlines flight. The accused passenger was deemed drunk by the airline staff and he urinated on the co-passenger during an argument.


In November 2022, a drunk man allegedly urinated on an elderly woman in the business class of an Air India flight. The incident was reported a couple of months later and the accused was arrested while the airline banned him from flying for 30 days.