On Friday, AirAsia issued a statement regarding the defecation incident that occurred in the cabin of flight AK1516, confirming that the event took place on August 18 on a flight from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to Shanghai.
According to China News Service, AirAsia indicated that during preparations for landing, crew members discovered an unsanitary situation in the cabin aisle on flight AK1516.
As the aircraft was in the landing preparation phase, crew members prioritized the safe landing of the flight, and, while wearing gloves, carried out a preliminary cleaning of the affected area using towels.
After the flight landed safely, crew members promptly reported the situation to the captain and ground team, and arranged for subsequent cleaning operations.
Once all passengers had disembarked, cleaning staff immediately proceeded to clean and disinfect the area in question to ensure the hygiene standards of the cabin were met.
Additionally, the crew assigned to the return leg of this flight had already been informed of the incident and received a briefing on the relevant situation and cabin conditions before departure.
AirAsia stated that these arrangements were made to ensure the safety and condition of the cabin environment and passengers, and to properly handle the incident.