Cabin crew were forced to manually scoop human waste out of toilets and passengers had to urinate into basins after flushing became impossible on a charter flight carrying an AFL team that ran out of water, a union claims.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) said the “deeply concerning” incident occurred just half an hour into the Fremantle Dockers’ four-hour flight with National Jet Express from Launceston back to Perth last weekend.
According to the TWU, the situation forced passengers to urinate in areas other than the toilets, breaching basic hygiene standards and creating an “unsanitary and unsafe environment” for everyone onboard.
“This situation is utterly unacceptable and demonstrates a glaring neglect of duty of care towards both our members and the passengers they serve,” WA State Secretary of the TWU Tim Dawson said.
“Our cabin crew members should not be subjected to such hazardous working conditions and passengers should not have to endure such distressing experiences.”
Speaking at a press conference, Fremantle assistant coach Joey Corey said the toilets were “filling up along the flight”, necessitating airline staff to “do some things” to ensure they remained usable.
“We’re about an hour into a return flight home, they informed us the tanks were full,” he said.
“It wasn’t appropriate, really. In terms of having those facilities, they need to be at a standard level where people can travel home for the passengers and also the staff, but it was managed in the best way it possibly could have.”
“The AFL is now investigating it and will make sure that the appropriate facilities are available for clubs when they’re on charters moving forward.”
A National Jet Express spokesperson said they were conducting a “thorough investigation into the incident”.
“Crew and passenger welfare is of the utmost importance and as such we are taking this matter very seriously,” the company said.
