Flying coach is crappy. And foul odors in coach make it even crappier. But on Wednesday, passengers on US Airways flight 598 experienced quite possibly the crappiest flight in history, as a dog aboard the jet defecated several times in the aisle, forcing an emergency landing. NBC Philadelphia reports the Philly-bound flight, originating in Los Angeles, was diverted to Kansas City, Missouri when passengers became ill after the full-sized dog crapped in the aisle as many as three times. And the crapfest just added odor to the already awful flight, which had been delayed on the tarmac at LAX for two hours prior to takeoff because of fuel problems. "About an hour into the flight, I started smelling this terrible smell", passenger Steve McCall told Inside Edition. "I look up the aisle way and there's a dog pooping right in the middle of the aisle. It's a big dog, three or four feet tall or long, and he was just going!" Another passenger, Chris Law, livetweeted #dogshitgate as it happened. This flight is the total package. pic.twitter.com/pocuStLh21 — Chris Law (@ChrisLaw) May 28, 2014 The reported service dog then unleashed its bowels, stinking up the flight path. Can't make this up. The dog has now shit twice. Plane is emergency landing cuz ppl are getting sick. Hazmat team needs to board @USAirways — Chris Law (@ChrisLaw) May 28, 2014 The turds themselves did not single-handedly divert the flight; rather, the illness they brought on was the real culprit. "A couple of people started dry-heaving, a couple of people were throwing up", McCall told Inside Edition. After the emergency landing, a hazmat team boarded the aircraft to rid it of the biological disaster, and the plane then continued on to its final destination. According to McCall, the dog's owner was apologetic, even offering a penance for the trouble. "She said, ‘Hey, so sorry, I want to get all your addresses so I can give you a Starbucks gift card!'" McCall said. To be fair, no one was seriously injured in the ordeal, and the dog did have to wait several hours on a tarmac before the incident. It's almost more amazing the humans in coach didn't start pooping in the aisles after that long of a wait. Ryan Craggs is Thrillist's Travel Editor. He does not have space in his Brooklyn apartment, nor his bachelor life for a dog. Follow him @ryanrcraggs.
