21 April 2023 , 13:05
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A fed-up flight attendant 'grounded a plane' until a passenger cleaned up the mess they made onboard. Photos of spilled rice have been circulating online, with a Southwest Airline passenger claiming the cabin crew refused to leave the gate until the person responsible sorted it.
Twitter user Jennifer Schaper said: "Just boarded the plane and somebody spilled food. The flight attendant screamed 'Who spilled rice?' and is walking up and down the aisles. They are refusing to leave the gate until someone cleans the rice." In the image, a large pile of rice is seen blocking the aisle after being dropped suspiciously close to one particular passenger's seat.
Southwest Airline apologised for the incident (@jenschap/Twitter)Jennifer added: "For the record - I did not spill the rice, and the person who did absolutely should have cleaned it up.
However, Southwest Airline staff was out of line in how they handled the situation and continued to delay an already delayed flight.
"The over-dramatization of the whole event made it more comical than anything - coupled with the fact that we were further delayed by an oblivious passenger who took advantage of Rice Gate to use the bathroom and further delay the flight."
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While it remains unclear whether the culprit came forward, the rice was eventually cleaned up and the flight took off.
"Rice is getting cleaned but she [the flight attendant] is mad. She has let us all know that we were not raised right and she is disappointed in all of us," Jennifer said.
"There were a few bumps so they didn’t give us beverage service. I think it was punishment."
A Southwest Airlines spokesperson responded in the comments, saying: "We're sorry that our Ccew was unable to provide onboard refreshments due to bumpy travel conditions.
"Safety is always our number one priority, but we hope that we can make it up to you next time! Thank you for bearing there with us, Jennifer."
Commenting on her post, one user said: "I just want to say she is correct. Somebody just wasn’t raised right."
Another user added: "That’s fantastic! People need to start acting right in public, the entitlement is out of control.."
A third user said: "Flight attendants are not there to clean up the mess of other adults. They are safety professionals. Period."
One more user added: "If the person who spilled it wouldn't clean it up, I would have. The fact everyone just sat there is ridiculous."