Airplane lavatory leaks on Colorado Springs airman’s luggage

After serving a six-month deployment to the Middle East, one airman was welcomed back to Colorado Springs with a disgustingly smelly bag and another United Airlines horror story.

David Harris landed at Colorado Springs Airport Friday afternoon and was undoubtedly greeted by hugs, smiles, laughter, and probably tears of joy as friends and family gathered for his touchdown on U.S. soil.

But those smiles turned to pursed lips and flared nostrils on the way back to the car. The culprit: Harris’ stinky luggage, which Moriah Riona says made several people gag.

Now, a few strange smells after an airman’s months-long deployment to the Middle East might be expected, but this was no ordinary odor — Riona even jokingly asked if there was a body in the bag.

When they loaded the bag into a truck bed and opened it, Harris’ first words were, “It’s all wet.”

The group hauled the bag back to the United Airlines baggage counter and demanded an explanation. According to Riona’s Facebook post, the employees sprayed an air freshener and told Harris that an airplane lavatory had leaked all over his bag.

Harris was given gloves and some large plastic bags to store the luggage, now tainted by human excrement and waste. The Facebook post says no United employees helped Harris clean or pack his luggage into the bags.

Riona says a U.S. flag flown over combat was in the bag, along with all of Harris’ personal belongings from the past six months.

Riona’s post says Harris was told by a United representative that it could take eight to 10 weeks to resolve the issue with an online claim.

A spokesperson with United Airlines gave a statement to our partners at Denver7 : “We have been in touch with the customer to apologize and compensate him for the damage to his bags. We are also looking into this situation to further understand what happened.”

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story identified Harris as a soldier. This article has been corrected to reflect that he’s a service member with the U.S. Air Force.