I was on my way to the bathroom on a RJ today when the seatbelt light came on. I’d already been waiting quite a while for the beverage cart to clear the aisle, so I was in a bad way, and did duck in and take care of business real quick.

When I opened the door 60-90 seconds later, the FA had pulled out and sat in her seat (which apparently slides in front of the bathroom door), completely trapping me in. With a roll of her eyes and a huge sigh, she got up and let me out. She said “Next time listen to the announcement. We will lock you in there.”

I know the arguments could go on for days about the appropriate action when the seatbelt sign comes on and you are in (or almost in) the restroom. I’m not interested in starting that back up. I just want to know if they actually can/will lock you in the bathroom during turbulence. That seems like a huge legal issue if anybody got hurt. I’m assuming she was just unhappy about having to get back up out of her seat, and having another FA catch her not having checked whether the door was locked before she covered it with her seat.