An American Airlines flight from Spain to Texas was forced to make an unexpected stop in New York after most of the bathrooms aboard the Boeing 777 stopped working over the Atlantic.
Flight 37 was traveling from Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday with 287 people on board when six of the plane’s eight lavatories became unusable.
That left just two working bathrooms for everyone aboard the long-haul flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport after the crew reported that there were not enough functioning lavatories to safely and comfortably continue the trip to Texas.
As the plane approached JFK, the unusual reason for the diversion became clear in communications between the cockpit and air traffic control.
The pilot told controllers that the aircraft had “only two potties operating on board.”
A controller repeated the information back to make sure it was correct, asking whether there were really only two functioning bathrooms.
The pilot confirmed that was the case.
The crew also issued a “pan-pan” call.
In aviation, a pan-pan is used to signal an urgent situation that needs attention but does not rise to the level of an immediate life-threatening emergency. It is less serious than a mayday call.
The toilet problem was not the only issue the pilots had to consider while preparing to land.
The Boeing 777 still had more than four hours’ worth of fuel on board when the decision was made to divert.
That meant the aircraft was heavier than it would typically be when landing after completing its planned flight.
Landing above a plane’s normal landing weight can require additional precautions, including closer attention to braking performance and brake temperatures.
Despite the unusual circumstances, Flight 37 landed safely at JFK.
Flight-tracking records show that the aircraft involved was a Boeing 777-200ER.
The flight had departed Madrid at approximately 9:09 a.m. local time and arrived at JFK at about 4:27 p.m. New York time.
Passengers then faced another lengthy delay.
The aircraft remained on the ground in New York for more than three hours before departing again for Dallas-Fort Worth.
Tracking information shows the plane left JFK at about 7:56 p.m. and finally arrived in Dallas at approximately 11:13 p.m.
The unexpected stop ultimately put the flight several hours behind its original schedule.
The exact cause of the lavatory failures has not been disclosed.
Aircraft toilets operate differently from most household plumbing systems. Modern airplane lavatories typically use vacuum pressure to move waste through relatively narrow plumbing lines into holding tanks.
That system can become blocked or malfunction if inappropriate objects are flushed.
A former British Airways engineer previously explained that airplane toilet systems can be surprisingly difficult to repair because extensive sections of piping may need to be inspected to find the source of a blockage.
Experts have reported finding everything from diapers and beverage cans to other objects lodged inside aircraft plumbing systems.
There is no indication, however, that passengers caused the problems aboard Flight 37, and officials have not said what disabled the six lavatories.
American Airlines had not publicly provided additional details about the cause of the malfunction as of Wednesday.
The incident did not appear to involve a problem with the aircraft’s engines, flight controls or other systems necessary to keep the plane flying.
Instead, the sheer number of unavailable bathrooms became enough of an operational problem for the pilots to decide that continuing the remaining journey to Dallas was not practical.
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