N.Y. man sues airline over flight spent on toilet

[Christine]

N.Y. man sues airline over flight spent on toilet - News - MSNBC.com

N.Y. man sues airline over flight spent on toilet

N.Y. man traveling on 'buddy pass,' gives up seat for JetBlue crew member

The Associated Press

updated 11:51 a.m. ET, Tues., May. 13, 2008

NEW YORK - A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.

 

Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said.

 

Mutlu was traveling on a "buddy pass," a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends, from New York to San Diego on Feb. 16, and returned to New York on Feb. 23, the lawsuit said.

 

Initially, Mutlu was told a flight attendant had taken the last seat on the plane, but then he was advised she would sit in the employee "jump seat," meaning he could have the last seat, the lawsuit said.

 

The pilot told him 1 1/2 hours into the five-hour flight that he would have to relinquish the seat to the flight attendant, court papers say. But the pilot said that Mutlu could not sit in the jump seat because only JetBlue employees were permitted to sit there, the lawsuit said.

 

When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board," the lawsuit said.

 

The aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," court papers say.

 

Some time later, a male flight attendant knocked on the restroom door and told Mutlu he could return to his original seat, court papers say.

 

Mutlu's lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness, in violation of federal law.

 

A JetBlue spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.

 

 

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: N.Y. man sues airline over flight spent on toilet - News - MSNBC.com

 

 

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[jajajaja]

Oh geez- when I first read the headline I thought maybe he was having pooping issues- LOL. I would be so pissed if that happened to me too! Ride across country in an airplane bathroom? That just sounds absurd and completely unlikely.

[ACDCDCAC]

OH.MY.GOD. i can't even believe that, but at the same time i can totally see that happening. i know all too well the fun of standby travelling, as well as what our pilots think, some of them act as if the whole world revolves around them, just because they know how to operate a bus in the sky! grrrrr.

[alex]

WOW!! Almost hard to believe that actually happened, but on our flight to Cabo in January the jumpseats were direct;y in front of us & the attendants would not shut up about how uncomfortable they were....

[rodent]

i'd sue if i was on the flight and some guy was hogging the toilet

[Christine]

I think $2 million is a little extreme, he's not injured or anything.

[LCBride2007]

I have a hard time believing that actually happened - but I guess stranger things have happened!

[becks]

I don't get it. There's something missing from this story.

 

But I agree with Morgan. I'd be suing for not having use of the lavs during the trip.

[Yvette]

this is a little nuts, i wonder if this is true or not.

[jajajaja]

Well I just want to know what kind of crack the flight attendants and pilot were smoking if this did happen. Who in their right mind would think this would be ok. Craziness.