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Sewage flows down aisles of trans-Atlantic flight

KING-TV

Published June 20, 2007 at midnight

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UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash.– Passengers on a Continental Airlines flight had to hold their noses for hours as sewage overflowed from toilets while they were high over the Atlantic.

"To be blatantly honest, I was more nervous than I had ever been on a flight," said Collin Brock. The University Place man was on board Continental Airlines flight 1970 from Amsterdam to Newark, New Jersey last week when things went bad.

"I've never felt so offended in all my life. I felt like i had been physically abused and neglected. I was forced to sit next to human excrement for seven hours," said Brock.

That's after lavatories — in the middle of a flight filled with passengers — started spewing sewage.

"Sickening. It's a nauseating smell. It's very uncomfortable," said Brock.

It was last Wednesday afternoon when his flight left Amsterdam, but roughly two hours into it, the passengers were told the lavatories were out of commission. An unplanned landing in Shannon, Ireland was made to fix the problem.

A pit stop became an overnight stay. The next day, the same plane headed for its original destination of Newark, New Jersey, but just after takeoff, the sewage overflow began. This time, there was no turning around.

"I don't know how you can say a plane needs to be grounded one day for a problem that's not as major as a problem the next day, and it doesn't qualify for being grounded," said Brock.

He says was there was one partially-working restroom on the plane for the more than 200 people onboard.

He also says the flight attendants — who were serving meal service in a stinky, unappetizing cabin — told everyone to not eat or drink too much.

"To be told that we were supposed to monitor what comes out the other end of us was insulting," said Brock. "Shame on continental. It was the worst flight experience I have ever had."

Continental gave Collin a $500 voucher for a future flight for the inconvenience. He says he's not sure he'll ever use it.

For more on this story, including a video report, go to KING5.com