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Home / Travel

Man trapped in plane toilet for duration of Spice Jet flight

NZ Herald
18 Jan, 2024 07:15 PM2 mins to read

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The man was only freed from the Spice Jet toilet after landing.

The man was only freed from the Spice Jet toilet after landing.

A passenger flying with Indian carrier Spice Air was trapped in a plane bathroom of a 737, with crew unable to free the traveller for almost the entire flight.

We’ll never complain about the middle seat again. The one seat worse to spend the majority of a 1 hour 45 minute flight has to be in the plane WC.

The incident which occurred on Flight SG268 on Tuesday, from Mumbai to Bangalore.

Trying and failing to free the passenger, crew told him to sit tight. Eventually the door had to be broken open, after landing at the destination.

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Two engineers were required to board the aircraft to free the man, sources at Bengaluru Airport told the Indian Express, when it arrived at 3.42am.

Airport engineers were called to free the passenger on the SpiceJet 737. Photo / Amal KS, Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Airport engineers were called to free the passenger on the SpiceJet 737. Photo / Amal KS, Hindustan Times via Getty Images

The carried confirmed incident, saying that an unnamed passenger “unfortunately got stuck inside the lavatory for about an hour”.

On approach to Bengaluru, the passenger was allegedly informed that they would be landing soon. An apology and safety instructions written on a piece of card were slid underneath the WC door, telling him not to “panic” and to prepare to land.

“Sir, we tried our best to open the door, however, we could not. Do not panic. We are landing in a few minutes, so please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come,” read the piece of paper.

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After being freed the man was offered medical assistance an apology and a full refund from the airline.

If fog and eating on tarmac wasn't enough a @flyspicejet passenger travelled inside the washroom of Mumbai-Bengaluru flight SG-268 on Tue coz once he got in, the door just wouldn't open.

What claustrophobia it must have been

This is the note the helpless crew penned to him:

✈️ pic.twitter.com/lpddwDma54

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) January 17, 2024

This incident comes at a time when India’s airports are facing woeful passenger experience. The country’s aviation minister said they would set up offices out of the six largest airports to address poor service and issues.

Cascading delays and cancellations in Delhi International Airport, led the ministry to issue a directorate asking airlines to give adequate warning for disruption.

Some travellers faced delays of over 10 hours with few updates.

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