Habib Battah, a Beirut-based journalist, was flying from Paris to Toronto on an Air France flight when he noticed a foul odor coming from under his and his wife’s seat. He told CNN that ‘it smelled like manure.’
The couple was traveling on the Boeing 777 with their two cats, each of which was in its own pet carrier in the under-seat compartment. The pair were relocating temporarily to the U.S., where Battah would work as a university lecturer.
At first, Battah thought the cats had an accident and felt embarrassed. It was their first time flying with them, after all.
After some sniffing, he considered the possibility that it might be someone’s body odor. Nevertheless, he wanted to know if the animals were okay so he crouched on the ground to check on the cats on his hands and knees. To his relief, they were completely fine.
What he did discover, however, was much more gruesome- a large wet stain on the carpet, approximately 20 inches by 20 inches. He immediately flagged down one of the flight attendants.
She handed him a pack of wet wipes, which he used to wipe the ground with and they immediately turned blood red. And the color just kept on coming. After a few minutes, the flight attendant gave him a pair of gloves and advised him to wash his hands.
While he was cleaning up, the flight attendant relayed the message to the crew members, who alerted the pilot. The captain then radioed in to ask what the ‘blood red stain’ under the seats was. To everyone’s horror, they were told by headquarters that it was human blood.
Allegedly, one of the passengers on a previous flight had suffered a ‘hemorrhage’. Fortunately, the individual survived. Following the incident, the captain of that flight requested cleanup of that area for the plane’s flight back to Paris. However, it’s obvious that the cleaners forgot about the floor.
Battah was shocked when he was told that it was human blood. What’s worse, is that the pet carriers he was using were stained red at the bottom as well- the blood had soaked through the fabric. Desperate to get the blood off, he kept cleaning the bag with wipes in the galley area with the cat still inside.
Only one of the flight attendants apologized and was angry on his behalf. The others had no reaction despite the gruesome discovery.
The flight, which took over seven hours, proved to be long for the pair, who said they were only offered two small bottles of water as compensation. The flight attendants also gave them a couple of business-class blankets to put on the ground and powder to soak up the liquid. The flight was full so the pair couldn’t be moved.
Since he had taken his shoes at the beginning of the flight, his socks were also soaked with blood.
According to Air France, the passenger who suffered a ‘hemorrhage’ had been unwell on a Paris to Boston flight on June 29. He subsequently received medical treatment upon arrival. As per protocol, a complete clean-up of the area was also requested by staff.
Unable to remove the cats, Battah picked up the pet carrier and slung it on his back upon arrival to Toronto, where they planned on visiting his wife’s family. He had brought the blood home with them.
The couple immediately began to question the airline’s protocols for biohazards. Despite their efforts, however, they received no answers.
To make matters worse, Battah eventually received a call from Air France that the liquid also contained feces.
He and his wife are currently talking to lawyers and have posted gruesome pictures of the incident on Twitter. In the same thread, he revealed that Air France called him a few days after the flight and offered to have the animals washed as well as a $500 voucher. They declined.
