A Delta Air Lines pilot is being called a hero for helping a passenger get out of an aircraft lavatory on a recent flight bound for New Orleans. The traveler was reportedly stuck in the bathroom for over half an hour.
The Atlanta-based airline allegedly asked the believed-to-be wife of the stuck passenger not to share any videos of the incident. However, footage surfaced online after the woman claimed that “customer service wouldn’t even refund” their flight.
The development comes from a February 28th post on Reddit that has received over 23,000 hits. The unidentified author recounted the ordeal, explaining that it occurred “on a recent Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to New Orleans.” The exact date of the flight is unclear, but it was likely DL1627, operated by a Boeing 737-900ER, according to FlightAware data.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
When the woman’s husband, identified as Brent, went to use the lavatory during the flight, she did not think anything of it until it had been more than five minutes since he left.
“…My husband, Brent, got up to use the bathroom, leaving me, my four year old and two year old in our row. No big deal, I knew I’d get my help with our two toddlers back in a jiffy. After 5 minutes, I wondered what was going on. Was he using this time as a much-needed break from my children’s whiney demands and frequent tantrums? I didn’t blame him.”
As it was difficult for her young children to stay still during the duration of the flight, the woman moved the kids around in their seats a bit. She recalled hearing a flight attendant saying the word, but “something clicked” after ten minutes had passed, and her oldest child asked once again, “Where’s daddy?”
At that point, the woman asked a crew member, “Excuse me, is there someone stuck in the bathroom??”
“Yes,” the crew member responded. “The door is jammed, and someone is stuck in there.”
“…I think that’s my husband!” the woman said.
The best and worst choices for those who need to go while traveling.
Her attention then focused toward the rear of the cabin, where she saw two other flight attendants pulling on the lavatory door handle, attempting to free the trapped man. Minutes later, the crew members, whom the woman describes as “both women,” asked a male passenger to assist them. However, they still did not have any luck.
“He gave it his damnest, but it was to no avail,” she wrote.
20 minutes had gone by, and the woman’s husband was still trapped in the bathroom. Then, one of the pilots appeared.
“Next up to try his luck, and I kid you not, was THE PILOT. Don’t ask me who was flying the plane LOL. I think they may have needed his permission to potentially damage the door to get Brent out. The pilot was really giving it is all…But it wasn’t until Brent kicked the hell out of the door while the pilot was pulling as hard as possible that Brent finally made his escape.”
Photo: bookzv I Shutterstock
The woman said she checked her watch and noticed it had been 35 minutes since her husband first left to use the lavatory. Another passenger filmed the incident, according to the woman, because she could not leave her kids in their seats alone. However, she said Delta asked her to refrain from sharing the footage on social media.
Regardless, she decided to feature a 15-second video in her post.
“…Customer service wouldn’t even refund our, as you can imagine, terrible flights,” she said. “So…here we are.”
American Airlines has been sued over an incident onboard a September 2 flight from Charlotte to Boston involving a hidden camera in the lavatory.
Simple Flying contacted Delta on Saturday to comment on the matter but did not receive an immediate response.
According to Nashville local ABC affiliate WKRN News 2, the airline offered the woman and her husband 2,000 Delta SkyMiles as an apology – reportedly equivalent to around $24. While unhappy with their offer, she did thank the crew members onboard for their help.
“We want to make it clear that the airline staff was great, and both flight attendants and pilot were doing their very best to help in this unfortunate situation,” she wrote. “We have thanked them all personally, and we showed no malice or ill will towards them. Quite the opposite, we kept reassuring them it was not their fault and that they were all great.”
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