A 200kg passenger forced flight attendants to strip him in a toilet and wipe his ass during a long flight from the United States to Taiwan.
Kuo was the Chief Purser of EVA Air on the flight. She said the passenger, estimated 200 kg, boarded the plane in a wheelchair and requested he be given three adjoining seats in economy class due to his size.
As the flight was not full, he was granted his request, which later allegedly escalated to a demand to use the plane’s business class lavatory because he would not fit in the economy cubical.
Kuo says the passenger claimed an injury to his right hand prevented him from fully undressing himself in order to use the lavatory. He asked the cabin crew to pull down his pants for him.
Kuo said:
I told him we couldn’t help him, but he started yelling. He told me to go in there immediately and threatened to relieve himself on the floor. As the passenger’s genitals were now exposed, one of my colleagues brought a blanket, which I used to cover his modesty.
But he very angrily slapped my hand away, saying he couldn’t breathe and only wanted me to remove his underwear so he could use the toilet.
After granting the request, the man yelled at them for not cleaning his ass as promised.
Kuo said she never promised to clean his ass and the passenger threatened stay right there and sh*t himself. He refused to leave the business restroom unless being served.
Flight regulations generally prevent staff from allowing passengers to be in the lavatory during takeoff and landing. The crew reluctantly obliged.
However, he began moaning in pleasure as the chief attendant wiped his backside while wearing three pairs of latex gloves.
He said: “Oh, mmm, deeper, deeper,” and then accused my chief attendant of not properly cleaning his backside, requesting that she do it again
She repeated the action three times before leaving, at which point the passenger said: ‘You can pull my pants back up now.’
After the flight arrived at Taoyuan Airport, a male ground crew took the man off the flight with wheel chair. He asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. The passenger said “yes,” but when asked if he needed assistance, replied, “No, I can do it myself.”
The crew later found out that this is a reoccurring issue with this individual as there have been other similar incidents in the past. Complaints are filed but EVA Air never took action to inform the staff or blacklist this man.
The flight attendants who went through the ordeal said it was difficult to stand your ground against crappy customers when EVA has exhibited a pattern of failing to support and put the blame on their staff. Nobody dares to step up for fear of being fired.
EVA Air didn’t contact the staff to investigate, but blamed the crew for making this incident public.
EVA Air said in a statement that flight attendants are allowed to refuse requests they consider inappropriate and that it is prepared to offer assistance, if needed, to sue the offensive passenger. The union has suggested two solutions: ban the passenger and others like him, and begin hiring male cabin staff.
Press conference has caused social outrage and EVA Air is now considering banning the man from flying.
