An Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi that departed on Wednesday turned around and landed back in the American city 10 hours later after all but one of its lavatories were clogged, according to people aware of the matter.
The airline confirmed in a statement on Thursday that flight AI126 had to come back to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, citing a “technical issue”. “All passengers and crew disembarked normally and have been provided with accommodation to minimise inconvenience. Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination,” the company said in a statement.
A person aware of the matter, who asked not to be named, said the decision to turn around was made when nine of the 10 lavatories on the Boeing 777-300 ER jet were backed up. “Only one of the business class lavatories was functional,” this person said, adding that such problems were not uncommon on ultra long-haul flights operated by Air India.
An expert, however, disagreed and said a problem of such extent is unusual. “Although it is not uncommon for one or two vacuum toilets to get clogged because passengers often flush tissues or diapers, it is next to impossible for all lavatories to be clogged due to only passengers’ fault, and in a way that it causes an emergency diversion,” said Mark Martin, aviation consultant.
The person quoted above said the exact cause of the fault was not determined but suggested that the system is intricate. “An aircraft toilet uses a vacuum system to flush. When you flush, a valve opens, creating suction that pulls waste into a holding tank below the plane. The system uses very little water and a blue chemical to clean and deodorize the bowl. The waste is stored until the plane lands, when a special truck empties it at the airport,” this person said.
{{/usCountry}}The person quoted above said the exact cause of the fault was not determined but suggested that the system is intricate. “An aircraft toilet uses a vacuum system to flush. When you flush, a valve opens, creating suction that pulls waste into a holding tank below the plane. The system uses very little water and a blue chemical to clean and deodorize the bowl. The waste is stored until the plane lands, when a special truck empties it at the airport,” this person said.
{{/usCountry}}According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane turned around roughly four hours, 25 minutes after departure when it had just crossed the Greenland coast. It departed Chicago at 11am on Wednesday and landed back at around 9pm.
The specific aircraft, with the tail number VT-ALQ, has a capacity of 342 passengers, including 303 economy class seats.
“Full refunds on cancellation and complimentary rescheduling are also being offered to passengers if opted by them,” the airline said in a statement.