Another Plane Is Forced to Divert for A Bathroom Break
Jeff Edwards December 12, 2017
A cross-country American Airlines flight made an unscheduled stop along the way to allow passengers to use the toilet after the onboard lavatories became inoperable.
An American Airlines flight headed from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Monday was forced to make a quick stop at Denver International Airport (DEN) to give passengers a chance to use the restroom after the toilets on the plane ceased to function. The Airbus A321 reportedly made it as far as Kansas before the captain decided the clogged plumbing that put all four lavatories out of commission, presented an unacceptable inconvenience and announced to passengers that the flight would be making an unplanned pit stop at DEN.
According to Travel+Leisure, passengers were afforded the opportunity to use the facilities in the terminal building while maintenance crews used an “air blaster” to eventually clear the obstructed onboard lavatory system. The much-relieved flyers were able to take advantage of indoor plumbing for just over two hours before a replacement aircraft was ready to take everyone to their final destination.
Just a few days earlier, air travelers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA) found themselves in a remarkably similar situation. In this case, the pilot opted to divert to Billings Logan International Airport (BIL) when all of the Boeing 757 aircraft’s toilets stopped working during the flight. Desperate passengers were escorted to restrooms once on the ground while crews serviced and repaired the out-of-order lavatories on the plane.
A Delta Air Lines incident report succinctly described the urgency of the situation. “All toilets were full and passengers needed to ‘go really bad,’” the report explained, adding that several passengers “needed to find a lavatory very urgently” and that stairs were requested immediately so that the rather distressed passengers could “disembark to find relief of built-up pressures.”
[Photo: Shutterstock]
The AA flight appears to have been blocked plumbing; however, the DL flight reports that capacity was reached. An airline cannot be expected to prevent plumbing getting plugged but allowing the tanks to reach capacity sounds like a poor decision was made to not pump them prior to departure...or they served Mexican food on this run.