Boeing 787 flight attendant reported an adult passenger required a diaper change in his seat. The fl...

Narrative:

I did not witness passenger boarding as I was working in the aft of the cabin. The passenger was boarded with an aisle chair and apparently needed 3 assistants. He was traveling with his wife (?) mrs. X.after takeoff I noticed ms. X was feeding him. Later I was told by other crew members that she had changed his diaper on the passenger seat. He was unable to stand or even move himself to a sitting position from laying on the seat. She was unable to move him or help him in the bathroom.this seems an unsafe condition for him to be unable to use a bathroom for a 15 hour flight. It seems unsanitary to change a diaper in the passenger seat. It seems unsanitary and unfair to have other passengers have to share the area with the smells of human urine and feces for such a long flight.in hind sight I wish we had contacted [customer service] during boarding to determine if it was acceptable for him to travel. He needed one or two or more strong people traveling with him to be able to get him in the aisle chair and help him in the bathroom. That might not have worked either.the flight had been delayed and we were hurrying to leave and the passenger's level of disability was unclear to flight attendants. It is difficult to imagine anyone would try to travel in this condition with such insufficient support. Our manual seems unclear to me regarding passenger acceptance in situations like this. This is a difficult problem to resolve in the middle of boarding.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Boeing 787 Flight Attendant reported an adult passenger required a diaper change in his seat. The Flight Attendant questioned whether the passenger should have been boarded under this condition; citing sanitary reasons.

Narrative: I did not witness passenger boarding as I was working in the aft of the cabin. The passenger was boarded with an aisle chair and apparently needed 3 assistants. He was traveling with his wife (?) Mrs. X.After takeoff I noticed Ms. X was feeding him. Later I was told by other crew members that she had changed his diaper on the passenger seat. He was unable to stand or even move himself to a sitting position from laying on the seat. She was unable to move him or help him in the bathroom.This seems an unsafe condition for him to be unable to use a bathroom for a 15 hour flight. It seems unsanitary to change a diaper in the passenger seat. It seems unsanitary and unfair to have other passengers have to share the area with the smells of human urine and feces for such a long flight.In hind sight I wish we had contacted [customer service] during boarding to determine if it was acceptable for him to travel. He needed one or two or more strong people traveling with him to be able to get him in the aisle chair and help him in the bathroom. That might not have worked either.The flight had been delayed and we were hurrying to leave and the passenger's level of disability was unclear to flight attendants. It is difficult to imagine anyone would try to travel in this condition with such insufficient support. Our manual seems unclear to me regarding passenger acceptance in situations like this. This is a difficult problem to resolve in the middle of boarding.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1438881
Time
Date	201704
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B787-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct

Boeing 787 flight attendant reported an adult passenger required a diaper change in his seat. The flight attendant questioned whether the passenger should have been boarded under this condition; citing sanitary reasons.