We’ve been talking a lot about the perils of airplane travel these days. There’s the classic issue of clashes with TSA over what’s in your bag, there’s the rather mean profiling of travelers who happen to be sweaty, and then there’s the confederacy of dumbasses occupying our government and running out qualified personnel like air traffic controllers. What a time to be alive. Well, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport upped the ante this week by exhibiting a new hazard to watch out for: brown sewage water bursting through the ceiling. Of course there’s video of this putrid waterfall, and it’s every bit as disgusting as you’d imagine. I think we can officially say now that airports have gone to sh-t.
Video footage captured inside America’s busiest airport shows what appears to be brown sewage water raining down from the ceiling.
“As we’re waiting, we see water just pouring from the ceiling. It had been pouring consistently for maybe 10-15 seconds,” eyewitness Jamaal Carlos Jr., who captured video of the event at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Aug. 4, told local news outlet 11 Alive. “And it just progressively got worse. The ceiling fell through and it stinks really bad.”
According to Carlos, it took airport employees five to 10 minutes to respond and clean up the spill. Despite the fluids, some travelers didn’t even bat an eye.
“Even after it poured… I thought they would get buckets or do something, but people were walking through it,” he said.
Eventually, airport crews roped off the area with yellow caution tape and forced passengers to take alternate paths around the airport.
“Airport personnel had to come and re-route everyone to take a different route. It’s crazy. So, they moved our gate… we were just so close to it. So they moved us a little bit further, but you can still smell it two or three gates down,” Carlos added.
Carlos said he saw more debris continue to fall from the ceiling, but eventually the water stopped.
“Following yesterday’s ceiling leak near Gate T11, cleanup and sanitization of the affected area have been completed, and normal operations have resumed,” a representative for the airport shared in a statement with PEOPLE.
They added: “The exact cause is still under investigation. Throughout the response, customer service representatives assisted in redirecting passengers, and there was no impact to overall airport operations.”
Did you watch the video yet (below)? It’s the tense moment between water seeping through the seams to the whole ceiling giving way that gets me every time. Like a pimple being popped, you know it’s gonna happen but it’s no less gasp-inducing when it does. And I’m no engineer, but shouldn’t water (of any variety, but especially sewage!) not be anywhere near the ceiling? Isn’t that what pipes are for?! Who compromised the pipes?!! Or is the inciting incident that Rachel Brosnahan was flying through Atlanta and it turns out the witch didn’t undo her travel curse after all? I live in NYC, and one of my biggest fears is getting stuck in a subway with too-high flood waters, so this hits home for me with the ick factor. Being a New Yorker is also why I’m not surprised that there were passengers totally unfazed by the gross display, like, “Whatever, I NEED to make my flight!” Likewise, airport personnel taking some time to arrive on scene definitely checks out. I do find a smidgen of humor in the wrinkle that instead of planes having to be rerouted, the pathways inside the terminal had to be rerouted for the human traffic. Can’t wait to see what oddball airport calamity pops up next. (Oh wait, I can.)
Photos credit: Mehmet Suat Gunerli and Kelly on Pexels and via social media
Aaaand I have a flight this afternoon 🤦🏻♀️
What a damn mess.
ATL is the world’s busiest airport, and I find it easy to navigate and efficient BUT I recognize that’s because of a few things- I fly Delta exclusively so the airport is catering to my airline, digital ID, pre-check, clear, and access to the lounges. I have flown with my mom a couple times and seeing it through her eyes as someone elderly who only flies once a year or less is a different story. I wish I was shocked that it took a few minutes to respond. 😒
I did get stuck in a subway breakdown in Queens headed from LIC to Manhattan a few weeks ago and THAT was hell. There’s a particular level of sweat/heat hell that happens in NYC in summer…
This was my home airport for six years. I always found it efficient & easy to navigate, too. Lost my car in the parking lot before I learned how to pay attention & write down where I left it. And take the shuttle rather than just wander around out there.
As for this incident, no idea what caused it or why it took so long to address, but I’m going to go ahead & blame it on Sec Transpo Sean Duffy. Because.
Yikes!! 😳
Never again Hartsfield Never again. I will fly through the Bermuda Triangle TIED to the wing wearing an aluminum cocktail dress before I ever fly to Hartsfield.
🤭