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TikTok is no stranger to plane mishaps, from snarky flight attendants to annoying passengers, but the algorithm has served up another, smellier form of airplane misbehavior. It comes courtesy of a video shared on the platform by TikTok user Mal (@mxlloryj00). It seems she’s all seated and ready to take flight, but the covering of her nose with her scarf suggests something is amiss.
The in-video caption reads “the most diabolical behavior on the plane,” and we get a whiff of what’s to come (a stinky whiff, to be sure). As Mal grimaces and turns her nose up, we finally learn the source of her discomfort as a nearby passenger makes a general announcement.
“Whoever is farting don’t fart please,” he exclaims, “it smells bad.” Mal appears shocked to have captured the passenger’s announcement, but given the close quarters they’re all sharing and the inescapability of it all, I’m sure she’s grateful for that passenger’s plea. Mal lets out one more wince as the video ends, leaving the fate of her fellow passengers and the remainder of her flight — which, if adapted for the screen, would be called Farts on a Plane — unknown. At this point, I simply must see Samuel L. Jackson reprise his role for this inevitable reboot.
Amid all the unanswered questions (were the farts powering the plane? Has the flatulent passenger been dealt with? And more broadly, is poop really expelled from the plane toilets mid-flight?), users flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts. One commenter described the other passengers’ response to the farts as a “plea for ceasefire,” while others shared similar (and likely just as smelly) experiences of their own. “Omg this happened to me and my husband on 3 hour flight,” one user recalled. “Whoever did it should have been arrested.” Elsewhere, observers jokingly suggested that Mal “just open the window,” or empathized with her because they have “fart phobia.”
Only amplifying the concern, one user reminded us that the plane “air is just circulating,” elongating the nose-curling ordeal for the entire flight. Naturally, users also shared concerns for the flatulent passenger, with many saying they could simply be a victim of “anxiety farts,” a condition that’s only usurped by the actual anxiety itself. “Ok but I actually just feel so bad for whoever it is like are they ok or sick and that has to be so embarrassing,” one user commiserated, with another adding that they “can’t imagine the suffering of the person actually farting cause I know they probably trying to hold it in too.”
In a follow-up video, also shared during a flight, Mal reacted surprisingly to those who alerted her to anxiety farts, suggesting she is one of the lucky ones who is not a sufferer herself. Mal also shared a video at the end of the flight where passengers are committing a crime far worse than farting; clogging up the aisles by standing up to exit when the plane has only just landed. While we may never learn the fate of that poor flatulent passenger (I hope somewhere out there, they are farting in peace), TikTok is sure to serve us up another plane mishap soon enough. Heck, we’ve already seen cats on a plane (the threequel in Jackson’s trilogy, perhaps?), imaginary passengers, and phantom flights, so really nothing at the airport would surprise us at this point. Happy farting, dear readers!