JetBlue flight 1368 from West Palm Beach to Westchester, New York messaged ahead for assistance on arrival after the passenger in seat 16D’s dog defecated in the cabin. They had “snuck” it on the aircraft, and when crew discovered it they were described as “not cooperating.” The incident was described on social media as a “ruff day” for JetBlue.
A dog on board needs to be registered either as a pet in cabin – there is a fee, size limitations, and the dog must remain in a carrier under the seat – or as a service animal. Officially, ’emotional suppot pets’ are no longer allowed but classifying one as a service animal simply requires completing attestation paperwork so people do it all the time.
However it’s often the case that the same people likely to bring an emotional support pet on board are the people least likely to have sufficient executive function to complete the paperwork. On so they just bring the pet on the plane – leading to incidents like this, even aside from pottying in the cabin.
Pilots sent the following message via ACARS:
PLZ ADVISE OPS HPN, SEAT 16B, SNUCK DOG
ONBOARD, IS NOT COOPERATING, DOG POOPED
ON PLANE
— Steve (@Dirt_Diver_24_7) June 23, 2026
The flight had been scheduled to depart West Palm Beach at 6:38 a.m. and arrive in Westchester at 9:29 a.m. It actually pushed back four minutes early and arrived thirteen minutes early, so the incident didn’t delay the flight.
The aircraft then operated JetBlue flight 2695 from Westchester to Orlando on time an hour later, so with full deplaning and boarding of the next set of passengers whatever cleaning they decided to do was not very extensive.
In contrast, Delta discovered a dog on a flight from New York to Austin I was on. We had taxied out but hadn’t taken off yet, so they returned to the gate – and the owner was allowed to fill out paperwork claiming it was a service animal rather than being removed from the aircraft. We had to top off fuel because of the event, and while she handled the paperwork, we wound up running into a shift change and two hour wait. She spent the flight with the dog on her lap petting and cuddling it.
When the dog’s owner speaks to them in baby talk, rests it on pillows, and makes it part of a photo shoot in the aircraft window you know that it is a fake service animal. Sadly, this wasn’t even the first onboard dog defecation incident this month.
One passenger took revenge on a customer who let their dog potty in the terminal, while an American Airlines manager made a customer clean theirs up. Also, this happened and this and also this, this, this, this and this.
Woah, that was a quick turnaround, even with the mess.
Now, imagine if this were a Delta flight… Tim would be like… “Gary, you sure love a headline, but you don’t understand network operations. Let’s look at facts. Delta’s cross-functional team had a sanitation crew at the gate before the wheels even touched the tarmac. Stick to DOT metrics before your next hit-piece. Load factor. Yield. RASM/CASM.”
I’ve always thought that B6 was dog waste. Nice to see it confirmed.
@1990 Do you do anything in your life other than gatekeep and ruin the comments section here?
I have no idea why Gary lets you stay, your constant clicks can’t be worth the disengagement that you cause with normal users. I for one visit maybe 10% of what I did previously, mostly because of your obnoxious takeover of the comments. It’s incredible that you think that anyone cares about your inane opinions on every single news item. Touch grass.
@Coolio — I touched grass, and it made me want to comment more. Uh oh. Engage or ignore. The answer to speech you don’t like is more speech.
I think service dogs are the best. Actually, all dogs are the best… It’s the owner who makes a bad dog and I feel sorry for both.
Jon
@Coolio — Also, pretty sure your interpretation of ‘normal’ and ‘gatekeeping’ are off, but, you do you (see, how inclusive and tolerant!) And yet, I seem to recall you rarely comment here, except to echo one of the other resident bigots (like @Andy S, @Walter Barry, @Not Scott), who have been somewhat quiet lately, thankfully, or just to tell me to stop commenting, like above. Why not engage on-topic? You sniff any dog poo on a flight?
When training health care workers or flight attendants about handling dog or human waste, I always say, “If it’s wet, sticky, and not yours, don’t touch it—unless you’re auditioning for a reality TV show, then by all means, dive right in!”
@coolio 1990 is a true virus infecting all of the blogs. He even made his way to doctorofcredit which was a safe haven for a while. Most obnoxious commenter for sure. Never comments anything of value.
Not that we need it but more evidence that we need an actively enforced lifetime no-fly list for people who do really wrong things. Service animals should have an attestation by a licensed vet that the animal is truly trained and a service animal.
@Thomas — Eh. Get some rest, stay hydrated. I think you’ll survive. *cough*
What is an “emotional suppot pet”? “Emotional support pets” and support animals should be regulated, like prescription drugs. A psychiatrist or psychologist must write a “prescription”. The animals should be limited by species, size and weight. The “prescription” should include a government issued photo ID that must be renewed like a driver’s license. Airlines should REQUIRE that the animal be listed in the passenger’s PNR BEFORE FLIGHT…just like an infant in arms. This business of showing up at the gate with a questionable “support pet” has long been out of hand. One easily forgets that one airline had a “support pig” break loose and run up and down the aisle “shatting” on the whole aisle. Another airline had a “support peacock” that roosted on a seat back and screeched during the whole flight. Don’t whine about “the cost of getting the license.” If the passenger can afford to fly…the cost of the license is negligible or free with the prescription.
Just ignore that retard. Engaging that pathetic wretch just encourages him. You’ll be doing him a favor, maybe he’ll be forced to get a life. Losers like that who spend all day mashing refresh to incessantly say nothing in a desperate attempt for human connection are the same type that shoot up schools.
@Mantis — And yet, you also frequent the various blogs (at least here, FM, and OMAAT.) So, who’s gatekeeping, now? Seems like a few of you just have different opinions on certain topics than I, and instead of actually debating, you’d prefer to silence others. Not very ‘free speech’ of y’all. Anyway, nighty-night over in Asia, Dr. Toboggan!
Put on a permanent Do Not Fly List.
@George Romey — No trial, no appeal, 1 million years dungeon, throw away the key… /s