Dog poo in plane aisle diverts United Airlines flight to Houston

The service dog's diarrhoea in the cabin took the plane out of action for almost two hours. Photo /123RF

A United Airlines service to Seattle was diverted to Dallas after a passenger’s dog made an unpleasant deposit in the aisle.

The flight from Houston was diverted just 20 minutes after takeoff on Friday, after a passenger’s service animal pooed on the plane.

A passenger aboard UA442 to Seattle claimed they were unable to disembark until the mess was cleared.

“Cabin crew was very upset,” they wrote to the Reddit forum r/united.

“Cleaning crew had to come [and] repeat cleaning as they missed several areas.”

United Airlines confirmed to Business Insider that the unscheduled stop was due to dog diarrhoea.

Apologetic cabin crew attempted to clean the dog diarrhoea using paper towels. Photo / Reddit; u/Gig_Wizard

The crew reportedly had difficulty keeping passengers seated while the cleaning was going on, as several tried to get up.

Passenger “Gig Wizard” said they were “just trying to get away from the smell of the cleaning activities”.

Photos of the clean-up operation show piles of paper towels trying to soak up the puppy poop.

“Ground crew spent [almost] 2 hours cleaning carpets with paper towels. Smell made me ill,” wrote the passenger.

After an hour and a half on the tarmac at Dallas Fort Worth, the flight was cleared to continue the 4-hour journey, in the same aircraft.

However the front toilet in the Polaris business class cabin was rendered unusable by the incident and there was no catering available for the flight.

“The smell never quite went away,” a passenger said.

UA442 to Seattle was diverted less than an hour into the flight by dog droppings. Photo / Flight Aware

The incident caused some to question the pet policies of the airline, allowing a dog loose in the cabin. However, it appears the animal was a service animal.

United doesn’t allow pets in the cabin on domestic flights, unless they are in a carrier that fits under a seat. Only service animals are allowed without a pet carrier.

The airline’s website recommends passengers with animals travel with plastic bags in case of such poo emergencies, as well as pet toys to keep them calm.

Last year Singapore Airlines refunded the fares of a Kiwi couple who were forced to sit next to a ‘farting’ lap dog, on a full flight to Changi from Paris.