A United Airlines flight was diverted to Denver, Colorado, Wednesday night to free a passenger stuck in the bathroom.
“The lavatory door became inoperative” during Flight 1554 from Washington to San Francisco, according to a United Airlines statement. A female passenger was trapped inside.
In Denver, “the passenger was safely removed from the lavatory after landing, and customers have since continued on to their destination on a new aircraft,” the airline said.
Twitter user @taylorkkimber posted video online of maintenance technicians working on the door.
“We’re just working on opening up the door at the moment, ma’am. We’ll get you out soon, OK?” one of the men is heard saying.
Flight 1554 was originally scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday night. The diverted flight arrived in San Francisco after 11 p.m.
Video shot by a fellow passenger, Taylor Kimber, shows crews trying to get the door open.
“We’ll get you out soon, OK,” a crew member is heard saying to the stuck passenger.
The stuck door was eventually opened, and the passenger was able to get out safely.
The flight was scheduled to be back in the air by 9:30 p.m.
“We are reaching out to all customers onboard and the customer in the lavatory to apologize,” the United Airlines statement said.
The airline didn’t immediately respond to questions about possible compensation for the trapped passenger.
Airline Introduces Baby Seat Map to Allow Passengers to Avoid Infants
In related news, Japan Airlines has revealed a new tool that lets you dodge infants when you book your seat.
“Passengers traveling with children between 8 days and 2 years old who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen,” reads the airline’s website.
“This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there.”
And one Twitter user praised the feature following a recent flight.
“Thank you, @JAL_Official_jp for warnings me about where babies plan to scream and yell during a 13 hour trip,” wrote Rahat Ahmed.
“This really ought to be mandatory across the board.”
Before babyphobes get too excited, Japan Airlines cautions that the baby map will not display child icons in certain situations.
It only works for bookings made through the JAL website, for example, and icons will not display if there is a change in aircraft.
If you are taking a small child on your trip, JAL offers a number of services to make your experience better.
The airline provides a number of strollers for rent in the airport, and will accept baby strollers as checked baggage for free.
Passengers traveling with infants also enjoy priority boarding, and offers hot water for bottles as well as diaper changing facilities on board.
CNN has contacted JAL for comment.
