Passenger on Toilet Leads to Aborted Landing of British Airways Plane

A British Airways plane has aborted its landing at the last minute and made a go-around when they discovered a passenger was still seated on the toilet.

Passenger on toilet

The incident happened last Wednesday on board British Airways flight BA438 from London Heathrow to Amsterdam.

The British Airways plane – an Airbus A319 – was on final approach towards the Polderbaan runway at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport when the crew discovered that something was wrong.

According to Dutch daily Telegraaf, a crew member discovered that one of the passengers was not in his or her seat but still on the toilet.

Aborted landing

As the pilots were just seconds away from touching down on the runway, they decided that the safest course of action was to make a go-around.

Once the passenger was safely out of the toilet, the pilots made a circle in the skies above North Holland and lined up for a second attempt to land the plane, touching down 11 minutes after the scheduled arrival time.

Safety

It is unclear how the passenger ended up in the lavatory during landing in the first place.

For safety reasons, passengers are not allowed to visit the toilet during landing and have to remain in their seats at all time.

Normally, flight attendants check before landing if the toilet is unoccupied and will then lock it from the outside until the plane has safely come to a halt at the gate.

Conclusion

British Airways flight BA438 aborted its landing and made a go-around at Amsterdam Airport when the crew found out that a passenger was still using the lavatory.

Although the problem was professionally solved by the pilots, the unusual incident does raise questions how the passenger managed to end up on the toilet during landing in the first place.

Never miss out on travel news and articles

If you want to stay up to date on the latest travel news, make sure to regularly check the Paliparan website.

Or subscribe to our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages to receive instant Paliparan updates!