A 13-hour flight from Chicago to Delhi was forced to turn back after five hours when 11 of the 12 toilets on board became blocked.
Some 300 passengers aboard the Air India faced a nightmare journey when their plane had to head back to Chicago half way through the flight – all because of the toilet disaster at 35,000 feet.
Flight AI126 took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 10:59am on March 5, bound for Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
But after five grueling hours, the Boeing 777-300ER was forced to reverse course and fly back to Chicago for another five hours thanks to a catastrophic failure of the aircraft’s lavatories.
And the cause of the 10-hour plumbing fiasco that caused almost all of the plane’s toilets to become unusuable appears to be cloth adn plastic being stuffed down the toilets blocking the waste pipe.
The only functioning toilet out of 12 on board was in business class, leaving hundreds of economy passengers stranded without access to a restroom for hours, according to View from the Wing.
Footage from on board the aircraft showed chaos erupting as dozens of passengers stood raised from their seats as a flight attendant explained the dire situation.
Chaotic footage from on board the plane showed dozens of people standing from their chairs as the plane was forced to turn back to Chicago
A flight tracker showed the flight making a u-turn back to Chicago after it set off to Delhi on March 5
Cloth was pictured being removed from a pipe attached to the lavatory system on board AI-126
Plastic wast also seemed to have been flushed down the toilets which caused the blockage
Air India has since downplayed the incident, citing only a ‘technical issue’ as the reason for the flight’s abrupt return
Air India has since downplayed the incident, citing only a ‘technical issue’ as the reason for the flight’s abrupt return.
Upon landing back in Chicago, weary travelers were disembarked normally and provided with hotel accommodation, according to an Air India statement.
‘Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination,’ the airline said, adding that passengers were being offered full refunds or complimentary rescheduling.
One customer said they had booked a first class ticket for their cousin to fly for a wedding in India using their travel LifeMiles with the Avianca airliner.
‘We’re now in the midst of customer service hell with Avianca, Lifemiles and Air India to figure out how to get a refund for the miles ticket,’ the frustrated client told View From the Wing.
Aviation expert Mark Martin weighed in on the bizarre incident, suggesting to The Times that while one or two clogged toilets isn’t uncommon, an issue of this scale is ‘next to impossible’ unless there was a serious mechanical failure rather than just passengers flushing the wrong items.
