A man was stuck in the lavatory on a Delta Air Lines flight for 35 minutes after the door got jammed, and none of the flight attendants could free him from his claustrophobic surroundings.
The incident happened back in December 2023 but is only now coming to light after the man’s husband posted a video on social media site Reddit of a pilot trying to break down the lavatory door.
My Husband got Stuck in a Delta airplane bathroom for 35 minutes.
byu/StuckDeltaBathroom indelta
The woman says that she initially complied with a request from Delta not to post the video on social media but decided to go public after the airline was only willing to give the couple 2,000 SkyMiles as a way of compensation for their ordeal – equivalent to around $23.
In a lighthearted post that accompanies the video, the woman explains how her husband Brent went to the lavatory leaving her to look after their two fidgety toddlers.
When her husband hadn’t returned after five minutes she initially passed off his extended absence as him taking a short breather from parenting duties but at the ten minute mark, the woman started to wonder what was going on.
Then, all of a sudden the woman overheard a flight attendant say the word “stuck”.
“Something clicked. “Excuse me, is there someone stuck in the bathroom??,” the woman explained.
“My attention diverted to the rear of the plane, where sure enough, two Delta flight attendants were yanking the bathroom door handle in and attempt to free my trapped husband.”
After failing to free Brent from the lavatory, the two flight attendants recruited the help of a random passenger in an attempt to release the jammed bi-fold door.
“He gave it his damnest, but it was to no avail,” Brent’s wife commented.
“It had now been 20 minutes. Brent had been stuck in a 3.5 x 5ft pee and poop box for almost a half hour,” the woman continued. “Next up to try his luck, and I kid you not, was THE PILOT.”
The pilot went about yanking and kicking at the door but it wasn’t until Brent started kicking from inside while the pilot pulled the door that it finally released and Brent was finally able to get out… after 35 minutes stuck inside the lavatory.
“We thank God that Brent didn’t take our 4-year-old with him,” the woman said in her post. “We thank God that it was a 34-year-old man who got stuck and not an elderly person or young child. We thank God it wasn’t someone who would have a panic attack over claustrophobia or germaphobia.”
Delta says it has been in contact with the customer and has offered an apology while an investigation is still trying to determine the “root cause” of the issue. The airline has promised to introduce changes to its procedures if necessary.
Not that this type of incident is completely unheard of. Last year, a passenger flying with the low-cost Indian airline Spicejet got stuck in the airplane bathroom for the entire flight and couldn’t be freed in time for landing.
Flight attendants had to slip a note under the lavatory door asking him to remain calm and hold onto the grab rails while the plane came into land.
Even after engineers had boarded the aircraft, it took some time for the man to be freed.
Some bi-fold lavatory doors are designed to be able to be removed from their hinges inflight should they get jammed, although this appears easier said than done.
