• An X post about a Southwest passenger's kitten was viewed more than 20 million times.
• The woman said she was kicked off a flight after cleaning up her cat's poop with paper towels.
• Some replied with messages of support but others were less sympathetic about flying with pets.

An airline passenger's tale about a kitten that pooped in its carrier sparked a debate about bringing pets on flights.

In an X post last Sunday that racked up more than 20 million views, a user named Alex said she was kicked off a flight and left in "a random city for 12 hours."

She said she was on a Southwest Airlines flight when her seven-month-old cat, Oni, got scared during a rough landing and had "an accident."

Alex said she took the carrier to the plane's bathroom and cleaned the mess with paper towels, putting them in the trash before asking a flight attendant for a garbage bag.

Her connecting flight turned out to be on the same plane, she said.

She added that a new crew was on board, and the bathroom was closed off due to the smell.

A "hostile" flight attendant then questioned Alex and made her cry, she said, before a Southwest agent escorted her off the plane.

The agent sorted another route to Los Angeles for her, involving another layover, and gave her a $200 voucher, Alex said.

Southwest Airlines did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Alex's post about the incident resulted in thousands of responses on X both supporting and criticizing her conduct.

"They handled that so poorly, I'm so sorry," one user replied. "I hope you and Oni make it to your destination safely."

Another reply with 7,000 likes said: "Worse things happen in those bathrooms."

Some others were less sympathetic. One repost with more than 1,000 likes said they had "zero sympathy" for people who fly with their pets and "play persecution when something goes awry."

An estimated two million pets are taken on commercial flights annually in the US, according to a 2023 research paper published in the academic journal Animals.

This isn't the first time that a fecal airline incident has made headlines.

Last April, a United Airlines flight was diverted after a dog pooped in the plane's aisle.

And in 2023, a transatlantic Delta Air Lines flight had to turn around after a passenger had "diarrhea all the way through the airplane."

• Two planes narrowly avoided hitting each other in an October incident in Long Beach.
• A Southwest Airlines jet was cleared to land on a runway that had another plane on it.
• The incident was revealed in a preliminary NTSB report published this week.

A Southwest Airlines jet avoided disaster after it landed on a runway that already had a plane on it.

The incident occurred in Long Beach in October, although the National Transportation Safety Board published its preliminary report into the incident this week.

The Southwest Boeing 737, arriving from Oakland, was cleared to land on runway 30 at Long Beach Airport — although it was occupied by another plane.

A Diamond DA40, a four-seater light aircraft, had just arrived from Camarillo airport.

The NTSB report said that the smaller plane's crew was cleared to land on runway 30 and to hold short of an intersecting runway.

They requested to circle around and land on the other runway, but the air traffic controller denied their request.

About three minutes later, the Southwest flight was cleared to land on the same runway.

The controller provided the crew with a traffic advisory about a Cessna landing on runway 26.

As it was landing, the crew told ATC that there was another plane on the runway.

They came within 857 feet of each other. But the Southwest jet slowed down in time before both aircraft taxied to their requested parking areas without further incident.

Because the NTSB's report is preliminary, it does not aim to establish a cause of the incident but rather gives a statement of facts.

This isn't the first time that a plane has ended up on an already occupied runway.

In 2023, a JetBlue pilot taking off in Colorado made a quick maneuver to avoid a smaller plane coming in to land.

• Southwest Airlines is reportedly set to end cabin service earlier in a bid to reduce flight attendant injuries.
• The change would see cabin landing preparations begin at 18,000 feet rather than 10,000 feet.
• It comes amid increasing reports of turbulence-related injuries.

Southwest Airlines is reportedly set to end cabin service earlier from December 4 in a move designed to help prevent injuries to its flight attendants.

Flight attendants will begin landing preparations at 18,000 feet rather than 10,000 feet going forward, the company said in an internal memo seen by View From the Wing.

The memo said that an evaluation of data from reports by pilots and flight attendants and information from the Flight Data Analysis Program suggested that seating staff sooner should reduce injuries by at least 20%.

"If we do not achieve the desired result, we will continue to find solutions," the memo said. "We are also committed to sharing updates on these findings periodically."

For passengers, the change means the usual pre-landing checklist — carry-on luggage stowed, window shades up, and seats and tables upright — will need to be completed sooner.

The memo says pilots will announce the beginning of the descent phase to the cabin before making a chime at 18,000 feet to signal the start of the sterile flight deck — a period when flight crew members should not be disturbed except for emergencies.

"This chime serves as your cue to secure the cabin for landing and to be seated and secured in your jumpseats," it says.

The World Economic Forum has said that from 2009 to 2023, 37 passengers and 146 crew members were seriously injured as a result of turbulence.

In May, a 73-year-old passenger died on board a Singapore Airlines flight when the plane dropped 178 feet in around four seconds.

Although serious turbulence-related injuries are rare, turbulence appears to be getting more common and increasingly severe.

Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to Business a request for comment from Business Insider.

• The FAA is reviewing an issue with the Boeing 737 Max's engine.
• Boeing may need to come up with a permanent solution, The Seattle Times reported.
• That may further delay the certification of the Max 7 and Max 10, which are years behind schedule.

Boeing could face further delays to new jets as regulators examine an engine issue.

It comes after two incidents on Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max jets last year.

In March 2023, smoke poured into the cabin after a bird hit an engine shortly after takeoff from Cuba. Smoke also filled the cockpit in a December 2023 birdstrike incident. The pilots safely made emergency landings in both cases.

Boeing consequently issued a bulletin in February informing airlines about potential impacts and appropriate operating procedures.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it was convening a review board to address an issue with the CFM LEAP-1B engine that powers the Boeing 737 Max.

It added that it wasn't an "immediate flight-safety issue" but would develop a path forward and collaborate with Boeing, engine maker CFM, and European regulators.

The FAA may require 737 Max pilots to change takeoff procedures, The Seattle Times reported.

It added that this would involve turning off the airflow from the engines into the plane's interior to prevent it from filling with smoke in the case of a birdstrike.

Such a change would be temporary until Boeing devises a permanent solution, the report said.

Coming up with that could further delay the certification of its 737 Max 7 and 737 Max 10 jets — the shortest and longest versions of Boeing's newest narrow-body plane.

A delay would hamper Boeing's turnaround as it looks to recover from a difficult year. 17,000 employees are set to be laid off, while workers are currently returning to factories after a seven-week strike.

Boeing initially thought the Max 10 and Max 7 would be certified by the end of 2022, but the timeline was pushed back to 2024 and then to next year.

It came up against stricter rules in the wake of the 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, when a combined 346 people died.

Boeing also withdrew a safety-exemption request related to the Max 7's engine de-icing system earlier this year, as it faced more scrutiny after January's Alaska Airlines blowout.

The delays have irritated airlines, including Boeing's biggest customer, United Airlines.

CEO Scott Kirby said United would build an alternative plan without the Max 10 due to the delays and frustrations following the blowout.

"We are working with the authorities that are investigating these incidents," Boeing said in a statement shared with Business Insider.

"We continue to follow regulatory processes to properly address potential issues and ensure the continued safety of the global fleet."

Southwest, CFM, and the FAA did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment outside US working hours.