An emergency with nine toilets becoming clogged on an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi led to the pilot turning the plane around and heading back to the United States
Delhi flight to USA forced to return due to clogged toilets
An Air India flight was forced to turn around mid flight after at least nine toilets became clogged up.
The extreme circumstances led to the plane from Chicago to Delhi having to return to the American city after nearly five hours. The airline has confirmed that flight AI126 was forced to return to Chicago O’Hare International Airport due to a technical issue with the aircraft.
Despite this setback, all crew members and passengers were able to disembark as planned following the incident on March 6. The airline said alternative arrangements were made to transport the passengers to their final destination.
The decision to turn back was made after it was discovered that nine out of the 10 bathrooms on the Boeing 777-300 ER jet were backed up, with only one business class restroom operational.
The aircraft altered its course approximately four hours and 25 minutes into the journey, shortly after crossing the coast of Greenland, as reported by the flight tracking website Flightradar24. The flight departed Chicago at 11am last Wednesday and returned around 9pm, resulting in a ten-hour journey back to the starting point.
Passengers affected by the incident were offered free rescheduling and full refunds for cancellations by the airline. Clogged toilets on airplanes are often caused by passengers flushing unauthorised items.
Due to the limited number of restrooms available, it is not uncommon for a flight crew to make the decision to return if a significant number of restrooms are out of order. Meanwhile, Air India expressed sorry for causing distress to its passengers.
“We are aware of some social media posts about the unserviceable lavatories on AI126 operating Chicago to Delhi on 05 March 2025 that caused the flight’s diversion back to its origin, Chicago O’Hare International Airport,” Air India said in its release.
“By this time, the aircraft was overflying the Atlantic, leaving points in Europe as potential cities to divert to. However, due to restrictions on night operations at most of the European airports, it was decided to divert back to Chicago,” it added.
Additionally, the Air India spokesman urged passengers “to use lavatories only for the purposes that they are meant for,” claiming that the investigative teams had “found objects such as blankets, innerwear, and diapers, among other waste” being flushed down the toilets on other flights.