Cellphone video taken aboard an American Airlines flight from Arizona to Hawaii last week appears to show a flight attendant telling a passenger that they should urinate in a plastic bag.
The Aug. 31 flight had departed Phoenix for Kona when the lavatories malfunctioned during the flight, an American Airlines spokesman said in a statement.
A passenger, who wished to not be identified, told Phoenix NBC affiliate KPNX the cabin crew made an announcement to passengers that there was a problem with the bathrooms. The woman said only one restroom at the front of the plane was open, but that the toilet was overflowing.
“What do you mean I have to pee in a bag?” the woman asks the flight attendant in the video.
The flight attendant tells the woman the toilets are overflowing, and that's why bags are available: "I know, it's horrible. And guys are going in bottles."
The Fort Worth-based airline said a diaper had been flushed down one of the toilets, causing the lavatory system to malfunction. Normally a flight would redirect to a nearby airport but AA said this plane didn't because of its location.
AA said customer service agents were reaching out to all 187 passengers who had been on board the Boeing 757.
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"At American, lavatories must be working properly prior to departure," an AA statement read. "If an American flight is in the air, and all lavatories become inoperative, the flight will divert to the nearest suitable airport in order for maintenance to rectify the situation. Due to the location of the aircraft, the flight continued to its intended destination. The issue was subsequently rectified upon arrival in Kona, and our flight returned to Phoenix as scheduled."
