A Houston couple says they were forced to sit in seats covered in vomit on a United Airlines flight earlier this week.
KPRC-TV in Houston reports that Sam Trail and his wife were boarding a plane from Vancouver back to Houston on Sunday. When they reached their seats, they say their seating area was dirty with vomit from a previous passenger.
Trail told KPRC that when he alerted the crew to the issue, he was told he would "be the reason the flight would be delayed" if the attendants called in a cleaning crew.
Trail also told KPRC that flight attendants handed him paper towels and told him to clean up the mess himself. While a cleaning person later took care of the mess, Trail told KPRC that some remnants of the mess remained.
"We're disappointed that this aircraft did not meet our standards for cleanliness. Once the issue was brought to our crew's attention, cabin cleaners were called on board to clean the seat prior to departure," United Airlines said in a statement to multiple news outlets.
United told the New York Post that Trail was never told to clean up the mess himself, and also said it was not sure if the mess left of the seat was vomit.
According to FlightStats.com, the couple's flight — United Airlines 2057 — departed and arrived four minutes late.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
