New Delhi: A flier got trapped in the lavatory of a SpiceJet aircraft for over an hour on Tuesday due to a door lock malfunction. The passenger, flying from Mumbai to Bengaluru, had left his seat to use the washroom soon after the plane became airborne and remained in the cramped enclosure for the remainder of the journey with the commode lid as his seat.
When the passenger tried to exit the toilet, he found that the lock was stuck. On figuring out the situation, the crew tried to unlock the door from outside but failed. The passenger was rescued from his confinement only after the plane landed at Bengaluru and an engineer managed to unlock the door.
SpiceJet has expressed regret and apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passenger. It has also said that the passenger will get a full refund on his airfare.
On 16 January, a passenger unfortunately got stuck inside the lavatory for about an hour on SpiceJet flight operating from Mumbai to Bengaluru, while the aircraft was airborne due to a malfunction in the door lock,” a statement from the airlines said.
“Throughout the journey, our crew provided assistance and guidance to the passenger. Upon arrival, an engineer opened the lavatory door, and the passenger received immediate medical support,” it added.
The photograph of a short message on a piece of paper has now gone viral, with many claiming that the crew wrote this note for the trapped passenger and slipped it across from under the locked bathroom door. The message says that they had failed to open the door despite repeated attempts and that the flier would be rescued as soon as the plane landed. However, the authenticity of the note has not been verified.
