James Whipple was an ordinary air traveler in Boise, Idaho on March 7th. He trudged through airport security, drank two beers at the airport bar, and boarded his plane for Salt Lake City. Though, the beer — as it is wont to do — coursed through his system and was ready for expulsion mid-flight. This normally wouldn’t be a problem except the restroom was labeled out-of-order… and there’s the rub.
The captain decided to keep the restroom closed for the one-hour trip because of a broken light. Whipple pleaded with the flight attendants to let him relieve his bladder, but the crew refused his requests to use the commode. So, with some MacGuyver-esque inspiration, Whipple grabbed an air sickness bag and urinated into it without alerting his fellow passengers.
A flight attendant noticed the bulging bag and notified the airport police while in-flight. Whipple answered a few questions upon landing, but was sent on his way. SkyWest corporate learned of the incident and formally apologized to the put-off passenger with a flight voucher. They added that the light would have been fixed before take-off, but the airline didn’t want to delay its passengers.