A Spicejet passenger, who was stuck inside the plane’s toilet for nearly an hour on the morning of 16th January due to an alleged malfunction of the lavatory door lock, has shared his harrowing experience. He described his experience of being trapped in the restroom of the Mumbai-Bengaluru flight with the words horrified, panicked, and suffocated. He was eventually rescued and was reportedly the last person to de-board the plane.
After being rescued from the lavatory 20 minutes after arriving at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), he disclosed that he was given a bottle of water and an apology but no medical attention, not even an assessment of his blood pressure. “I was traumatised, dazed and injured as I was thrown around inside the toilet as the plane landed in Bengaluru. There was no medical assistance at all,” he said.
The passenger intends to file a complaint with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and sue the airline for endangering his life. He added that SpiceJet offered him a Rs 5,000 coupon as compensation but he declined. However, the airline said that the staff “provided assistance and guidance” to the passenger.
The Koramangala resident, who was allotted seat 14D in the plane, mentioned, “Soon after the flight took off at 2.10 AM on Tuesday, I went to use the lavatory on the front left side of the plane. Within minutes, I realised something was wrong with the lock and I tried to open it. I managed to draw the attention of the crew, who tried to open the door. It was getting scarier every minute.”
The techie highlighted, “During landing, I was thrown around and suffered injuries. It took 20 minutes for someone to start breaking open the door. When I came out, I had bruises, and my vision was blurred for a while. But I received no medical help even after coming out of the lavatory. I got a bottle of water and some apologies from SpiceJet.”
A ground staff divulged, “The plane landed at KIA at 3.42 AM. An aircraft engineer boarded the flight after all passengers disembarked. The passenger was still trapped inside the cramped toilet. The landing was horrific as he was seated on the commode.”
The 37-year-old software engineer documented the event with a video showing himself confined inside the restroom and struggling to open the door. Now, the footage of the passenger fumbling to open the door has gone viral. He can be observed sitting on the toilet’s lid before getting to his feet and attempting to open the door in the short clip. The latch appeared to be unlocked in the video, however, the door is jammed. Someone from outside also tries to move the door knob to open it but to no avail. The mirror reflected his fleeting glance as he panned the camera around.
STORY | SpiceJet passenger gets stuck in aircraft lavatory mid-air; crew member sends 'do not panic' message
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 18, 2024
READ: https://t.co/IDqnWo6civ
VIDEO:
(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/MQCyx5Bk7X
The Bangalore-based software engineer was travelling back to the IT hub on SpiceJet’s SG-268 Boeing 737-8 aircraft from Mumbai where he had visited family. The aircraft was supposed to depart Mumbai at 10:45 PM, but it didn’t take off until 2 in the morning.
Once on board, he proceeded to the restroom when the seat belt sign was turned off. He laboured for more than twenty minutes to catch the attention of the in-flight personnel when he was unable to open the toilet door. He eventually got them to notice, but by then the air pressure had caused the door to jam further and the team was unable to unlock it.
The passenger couldn’t hear the in-flight attendants trying to talk to him at first and moved himself closer to the door in an anxious state so he could hear their directions. “Sir, we tried our best to open the door; however, we could not. Do not panic. We are landing in a few minutes, so please close the commode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come,” read a note handed over to him by a cabin crew member through the cracks in the folding door of the loo.
The crew had instructed the passenger to settle down on the commode and hold on tight but the force of the landing had been so intense that the person was flung to one side without a proper seat belt and sustained injuries.
One employee who saw the rescue remarked, “He told us how he struggled inside the toilet, which had constricted space and the panic of being locked for hours. He was quite shaken up and dazed when he stepped out of the toilet. He could hardly manage to walk.”
He reportedly requested to meet with a senior SpiceJet official to file a formal complaint, but the staff instead put him in a cab and sent him home. A bottle of water was given to him and a car was provided to drive him to his place.
According to a close friend of the passenger who asked to remain anonymous, SpiceJet staff failed to take him to the closest hospital for a check-up despite the seriousness of the event. He revealed, “We had to take him to a hospital ourselves. We are looking at filing a formal complaint against the airline.”
His cousin also posted a message on social media about the passenger’s ordeal which stated, “After flight took off, he went to rest room and after that he was locked for almost 2 hours. Had to suffer a lot inside the room, it was really suffocating and was hard to breathe. He had breathing issues while he was locked inside the restroom, moreover, while landing on the flight there was no proper safety as he was stuck in the restroom during that and no one resolved this until the flight landed in Bangalore after which the door was opened with the help of engineer.”
He added, “It seems like he has booked a seat for the toilet, this is really a pathetic way of maintaining the flight and poor maintenance resulted in a traumatised journey which he is suffering now.”
HOW @flyspicejet traumatised customer for 2 Hours on flight @DGCAIndia #flightcomplaints #AirlineSafety @ANI @MoCA_GoI @AAI_Official pic.twitter.com/bJBGpEM9C0
— Vinod Duvasi (@VinodDuvasi) January 16, 2024
The airline released a statement after the episode which said, “SpiceJet regrets and apologises for the inconvenience caused to the passenger. The passenger is being provided with a full refund. On 16 January, a passenger unfortunately got stuck inside the lavatory for about an hour on the SpiceJet flight operating from Mumbai to Bengaluru, while the aircraft was airborne due to a malfunction in the door lock. 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.”
