“What do you mean I have to pee in a bag?” Passengers needing the toilet were forced to use bottles and plastic bags on an American Airlines flight after somebody foolishly flushed a baby’s disposable nappy down a toilet.
The nappy blocked the toilet, when the other toilets were overflowing for other reasons.
It happened aboard American Airlines flight AA 663 from Phoenix Arizona to Kona, Hawaii, a flight sector that passes over empty ocean for much of the time. There are few convenient places to divert to in order to fix a dodgy toilet.
A woman shot an 18-second video clip of a flight attendant telling her she must pee in a bag.
“What do you mean I have to pee in a bag?” the woman can be heard asking.
“[Inaudible] … they’re overflowing. This one has like this much left,” the flight attendant responds.
“I know, it’s horrible. And guys are going in bottles,” the flight attendant adds in the video.
https://youtu.be/_wBZitSVpWE
According to thePointsGuy.com, American Airlines later offered the woman passenger USD 240 in vouchers and 17,500 miles, which she rejected, saying it wasn’t enough compensation for her ordeal.
News channel 11Alive.com quoted an American Airlines statement on the matter.
It said, in part:
“We are very sorry for the trouble this caused the 187 passengers on flight 663. Our customer relations team will be reaching out to all of the passengers on this flight to extend our apologies.
“At American, lavatories must be working properly prior to departure. If an American flight is in the air, and all lavatories become inoperative, the flight will divert to the nearest suitable airport in order for maintenance to rectify the situation. Due to the location of the aircraft, the flight continued to its intended destination.
The issue was subsequently rectified upon arrival in Kona, and our flight returned to Phoenix as scheduled.”
American Airlines uses a B757-200 on the route. SeatGuru.com maps indicate the plane has one toilet (possibly a twin unit) in the front of the main cabin and two at the rear, plus another upfront in the first class section.
Written by Peter Needham
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