B787-800
Flight Attendant Current
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors
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.
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.