The 187 passengers on American Airlines Flight 663 thought they were headed to paradise, but they had to go through hell to get there.
An issue with the lavatories in-flight resulted in flight attendants informing passengers they would have to urinate in plastic bags and bottles for one-third of the six-hour flight from Phoenix, Ariz., to Kona, Hawaii.
“What do you mean I have to pee in a bag?” one passenger can be heard asking in a video of the incident which was posted online.
“I know, it’s horrible,” the flight attendant says in the video. “And guys are going in bottles.”
The incident stemmed from a diaper that was flushed down one of the toilets, causing the problems. Passengers were forced to choose between bottles and bags and holding it for two hours prior to landing.
“We are very sorry for the trouble this caused the 187 passengers on flight 663,” American Airlines said in a statement. “Our customer relations team will be reaching out to all of the passengers on this flight to extend our apologies.
“At American, lavatories must be working properly prior to departure. 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.”
All passengers on the flight have been given 30,000 AAdvantage miles, the carrier added. That’s enough for a free round-trip flight.