Like water torture: passenger trapped under drip for two-hour flight

A passenger claims that they were trapped under a leaking overhead compartment for an entire flight. Photo / Alev Takil, Johnny Brown; Unsplash

A traveller has compared a recent trip with a drip to “Chinese water torture” after spending more than an hour and a half flight under a leaking overhead bin.

The traveller took to TikTok to complain that she was stuck beneath a bag leaking an “unidentified liquid” because the cabin crew said there were no spaces on the full flight from San Jose.

Sophie Shaw, a 24-year-old holidaymaker from California, was travelling to Santa Ana aboard budget carrier Southwest Airlines, according to the New York Post.

Shaw called it “the worst experience on a plane I’ve ever had.”

Sharing footage of the leaky overhead bin to her social media, the video with over 4 million views was posted with the comment that she would be “filing a complaint.”

The traveller explained that she had fallen asleep only to wake shortly after takeoff with a wet patch on her leg.

Initially she thought that the passenger beside her had spilled a drink, before she noticed the steady drip coming from the overhead compartment.

@pocketmouse35

Im filing a claim dw #southwest #flightattendant #flighthorrorstories #flying #travel #traveltiktok #plane

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The passenger said the cabin crew were unsympathetic to her situation, sat under a localised shower.

Unable to reach the leaking bag herself, a flight attendant told her to sit tight as there was nothing they could do.

“I think it should have been her job to make a bigger deal out of it but she just said the flight was too full and she couldn’t move the luggage.”

She posted the video “unidentified liquid drips from someone else’s bag on you the entire flight because the flight attendant says she can’t move you or the bag.”

Shaw compared it to being under a leaky roof in a monsoon.

The traveller said she was advised to submit an online claim for the inconvenience.

Southwest responded within eight hours, offering compensation of $240, which did not cover the cost of her $260 fare.

The airline was contacted for comment.

The reaction to the drippy horror trip was far more vocal online, following Shaw’s viral clip.

“I would’ve said so loudly ‘WHOSE BAG IS THIS !!!!’” read one comment.

Others said they had experienced similar uncomfortably damp flights, under dripping parcels, defrosting sausages and one traveller claimed to have been stuck under a leaky lobster on the way home from Maine.