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Passenger says he found blood-soaked carpet on Air France flight, airline responds

He says the airline staff gave him wipes and gloves to clean up and then casually noted a passenger had haemorrhaged on the flight earlier

Published: Mon 3 Jul 2023, 7:43 PM

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Habib Battah cleans his blood-stained bag inside the flight. - Photo courtesy: Twitter

Habib Battah cleans his blood-stained bag inside the flight. - Photo courtesy: Twitter

Air France has issued an apology after a passenger alleged that he found a blood-soaked carpet under his seat which emitted a foul smell and also stained his backpack.

Replying to Habib Battah, Air France wrote: “We're sorry to read about your flight experience. We are forwarding it to our customer service team, who will get back to you as soon as possible”.

In a follow-up tweet, the airline told Battah that he will be contacted by its teams soon.

Battah was flying from Paris to Toronto and narrated the incident in a series of tweets on July 1.

Sharing a picture of himself cleaning the bag inside the aircraft, Battah said: “I have seen a few things in my life, but the horrific blood-soaked carpet on my Air France plane yesterday was another level. An hour into the transatlantic flight from Paris to Toronto, I kept smelling something gross and couldn't figure it out. Until I got up and looked down.”

Battah added that he spotted a “big stain across the whole carpet of the seats” and that it was “wet to touch”. The passenger said the Air France attendant gave him wipes that turned red when he tried to clean the stain.

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When Battah took out his bag kept under the seat, he found it to be “soaked in blood”. He said that the airline staff gave him more wipes and gloves and then “casually noted a passenger had haemorrhaged on a flight before ours”.

Battah, who is a journalist in Lebanon as per his Twitter bio, posted a video where he is seen sitting on the floor of the plane and cleaning his bag’s strap. He said: “The Air France staff crowded around, shocked because they claimed a cleaning crew had removed the seats after the sick passenger incident, but apparently not cleaned the floor”.

In a follow-up tweet, Battah wondered what might have happened to the passenger who “lost this much blood”. He also underlined that the airline staff “mentioned internal bleeding and infection” and asked: “What if it was a disease-would I or any other passengers be exposed?”

Battah also tagged the International Air Transport Association (IATA) urging them to take the matter seriously.



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