Flight to India Returns to the U.S. After 10-Hour Trip Due to Clogged Toilets

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of an Air India flight arriving at London Heathrow Airport.Photo:Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty

An international flight from Chicago to India had to return to its point of departure after 10 hours in the air due to an issue with multiple clogged toilets.

Air India Flight 126 left Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday, March 5, at 10:59 a.m. local time and spent a total of 10 hours and nine minutes in the air, before it ultimately landed back in Chicago later that same day at 9:09 p.m. — rather than its planned destination of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, perFlight Aware.

The single functional toilet was located in the business class,Hindustan Timesreported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

“By this time, the aircraft was overflying the Atlantic, leaving points in Europe as potential cities to divert to,” read the statement. “Due to restrictions on night operations at most of the European airports, it was decided to divert back to Chicago.”

Air India planes at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in 2024.Sumit Dayal/Bloomberg via Getty

Sumit Dayal/Bloomberg via Getty

“Upon landing at Chicago, all passengers were provided immediate assistance, including hotel accommodation and alternative flight options to continue their journey to Delhi,” read the statement.

PEOPLE also reached out to the Chicago Department of Aviation for comment.

Aviation consultant Mark Martin said, per theTimes, that while it isn’t “uncommon for one or two vacuum toilets to get clogged because passengers often flush tissues or diapers,” it is “next to impossible” for all to be clogged “due to only passengers’ fault, and in a way that it causes an emergency diversion.”

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Last August, a United Airlines flight headed from Germany to San Francisco was diverted due to a reported overflow from a plane toilet into the cabin, perThe San Francisco Chronicle.

source: people.com