‘Glaring neglect’: National Jet Express staff forced to scoop toilet waste manually on flight carrying Fremantle Dockers AFL players

Airline staff were allegedly forced to manually scoop toilet waste into basins during a horror flight bringing an AFL team home.

The Fremantle Dockers have suffered a horror flight where passengers were allegedly compelled to urinate in basins while airline staff were forced to manually scoop toilet waste into basins.

The AFL team was on a chartered National Jet Express flight from Launceston to Perth following their loss to Hawthorn on Saturday night when the plane ran out of water after just half an hour.

The Transport Workers Union – representing the cabin crew – has expressed deep concern over the ordeal, claiming staff and passengers were opened up to an unsanitary and unsafe environment as the toilets were left non-functional.

The flight was reportedly taking the Fremantle Dockers home after their loss to Hawthorn. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

Fremantle assistant coach Joey Corey said the toilets were “filling up along the flight”, with airline staff needing to “do some things” to ensure they could be used during the entire flight.

“We’re about an hour into a return flight home, they informed us the tanks were full.

Our players could still use the toilets but obviously they were filling up along the flight,” he said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

“It led to the staff to have to do some things to make sure we could manage the entire flight home.”

Corey said the situation “wasn’t appropriate” but was handled in the best way possible.

“It wasn’t appropriate, really. In terms of having those facilities, they need to be at a standard level where people can travel home for the passengers, and also the staff, but it was managed in the best way it possibly could have,” he said.

“Obviously, the AFL is now investigating it and will make sure that the appropriate facilities are available for clubs when they’re on charters moving forward.”

When asked if he would have preferred the flight to be diverted, Corey replied “No, we wanted to get home”, before adding “obviously from a health and safety perspective it wasn’t great”.

Luke Ryan was one of the lucky ones. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The team was reportedly meant to fly with Virgin but needed to be deferred to a charter.

Luke Ryan, set to celebrate his 150th game this Sunday, told reporters that he didn’t run into too many issues on the way home.

“On the way back I was asleep pretty much the whole time and dehydrated so I didn’t need to go, so it was good to get home,” he said.

The AFL said it was awaiting the results of an investigation into the incident and expressed its disappointment in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“The AFL was left extremely disappointed after a charter flight from Launceston to Perth last weekend provided inadequate facilities for players, club staff and airline team members on-board,” AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said.

“We have expressed this directly with the charter company and are awaiting the results of their investigation.

“We thank staff and players from the Fremantle Football Club for their understanding and the airline staff on-board for their professionalism during a difficult few hours in the air.

“Once the airline investigation is complete, we will work through next steps with the charter company.”

TWU Western Australia state secretary Tim Dawson slammed the situation as “utterly unacceptable”, claiming it “demonstrates a glaring neglect of duty of care” towards both passengers and union members.

“Our cabin crew members should not be subjected to such hazardous working conditions, and passengers should not have to endure such distressing experiences,” he said.

Mr Dawson said the safety and wellbeing of members was the union’s “top priority”.

“This incident highlights the critical necessity for health and safety representatives and to have a strong voice for workers to report these incidences before the plane is in the air,” Mr Dawson said.

“We are committed to fighting for the rights and safety of our cabin crew members, and we need to make sure preventable incidents like these don’t happen again.”

The TWU has contacted National Jet Express, which is reportedly investigating the incident and has agreed to share its findings with the union.

A National Jet Express spokesperson said an investigation was under way into the incident.

“NJE is aware of the situation on-board a Launceston to Perth charter flight recently and is conducting a thorough investigation into the incident to ensure any failings are addressed immediately,” the spokesperson said.

“Crew and passenger welfare is of the utmost importance and as such we are taking this matter very seriously.”

Originally published as ‘Glaring neglect’: National Jet Express staff forced to scoop toilet waste manually on flight carrying Fremantle Dockers AFL players