Lucrezia Ciotti A seemingly trivial glitch threatened to disrupt the schedule of a transcontinental flight in the United States. A 69-year-old woman on board a United Airlines plane became trapped in the lavatory , and the crew's attempts to resolve the problem were unsuccessful.
Fear on board the plane, passenger stuck in the toilet: what happened?
The incident occurred on October 13 on flight UA1900, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8. As reported by Adnkronos , the flight departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 7 a.m. local time, bound for Newark Liberty on the East Coast. After about two and a half hours of flight, when the plane was at an altitude of approximately 35.000 feet, the cabin crew noticed that a passenger had not returned from the rear lavatory.
Once they reached the door, the flight attendants discovered that the woman had been trapped due to a problem with the lock system . Despite procedures taken to unlock the lock from the outside, access remained impossible. As the minutes passed, the need to find a solution became increasingly urgent.
The captain then contacted air traffic control to arrange a diversion to Chicago O'Hare , where the passenger could be released with the assistance of ground personnel.
Door opens during descent: diversion to Chicago canceled
As controllers authorized the maneuver, the Boeing began to lose altitude as it approached the Illinois airport. However, the situation took a turn before arriving at the airport : during the descent, when the aircraft was at about 27.000 feet, the flight attendants finally managed to open the door and help the 69-year-old out.
The woman's release allowed the captain to abort the emergency procedure and resume the flight to Newark. The plane reached its final destination without the scheduled stopover in Chicago. Medical personnel were waiting at the gate to check on the passenger. According to reports, the woman was not injured and was in stable condition.