Broken bathrooms force American Airlines flight to divert for urgent landing

Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images/File

An American Airlines flight from Madrid diverted to New York Tuesday afternoon after all but two of the lavatories on the Boeing 777 stopped working.

The plane had 287 people onboard and was flying from Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a flight that often takes more than 10 hours.

“American Airlines Flight 37 landed at JFK International Airport in New York after the crew reported an inadequate number of operational lavatories,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 typically has eight lavatories onboard but only two were working.

“So (we) have only two potties operating on board for American 37,” the pilot told air traffic control as they approached John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“You said only two potties. Is that right?” the controller confirmed.

“That’s affirmative,” the pilot responded.

With more than four hours of fuel left, the plane was over its normal landing weight, which can cause problems including overheated brakes. The pilot declared “pan-pan,” an international term for an urgent problem that requires immediate attention, but not a life threatening emergency.

The plane landed safely and continued onto Dallas after more than three hours in New York, according to tracking site FlightAware.

American Airlines did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the incident.

While it’s not clear what happened on this plane, aircraft toilets are complicated devices powered by air pressure that can get blocked or otherwise malfunction, experts tell CNN.

“It’s only a tiny pipe, and people put things like (diapers) down – I’ve seen cutlery go down, and (soft drink cans) – they’re fascinated to see whether it will go down or not,” Nigel Jones, a former engineer for British Airways told CNN in 2024 . “It can take days to rectify because there’s an awful lot of pipework, and it has to be broken down to find the blockages.”

Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images/档案照片

周二下午，一架从马德里起飞的美国航空公司航班因波音777客机上除两间洗手间外全部停止工作而改道飞往纽约。

飞机上有 287 名乘客，从马德里飞往达拉斯-沃斯堡国际机场，该航班通常需要 10 多个小时。

美国联邦航空管理局在一份声明中表示：“美国航空37号航班在纽约肯尼迪国际机场降落，原因是机组人员报告称可用的洗手间数量不足。”

美国航空公司一架波音777客机通常有八个洗手间，但当时只有两个可以使用。

“所以，美国航空37号航班上只有两个厕所可以使用，”飞行员在接近约翰·F·肯尼迪国际机场时告诉空中交通管制员。

“你说只有两个厕所，对吗？”管理员确认道。

“没错，”飞行员回答道。

飞机剩余燃油可飞行四个多小时，但重量超过了正常着陆重量，这可能导致刹车过热等问题。飞行员喊了一声“pan-pan”，这是一个国际通用术语，指需要立即处理的紧急问题，但并非危及生命的紧急情况。

据航班追踪网站 FlightAware 显示，飞机在纽约停留三个多小时后安全降落，并继续飞往达拉斯。

美国航空公司没有回应 CNN 对此事的置评请求。

专家告诉 CNN，虽然目前还不清楚这架飞机上发生了什么，但飞机厕所是靠气压驱动的复杂装置，可能会发生堵塞或其他故障。

“那只是一根很细小的管道，人们会把尿布之类的东西扔进去——我还见过餐具和饮料罐被扔进去——他们很想看看这些东西能不能沉下去，”英国航空公司前工程师奈杰尔·琼斯在2024年接受CNN采访时说道。“疏通管道可能需要好几天时间，因为管道系统非常复杂，必须拆开才能找到堵塞点。”