Dad & Toddler Get Trapped In Lavatory On Transpacific Delta Flight

A Reddit user shares what sounds like a mighty unpleasant experience on a recent Delta transpacific flight, as flagged by PYOK. I suppose all’s well that ends well, and kudos to both the dad and toddler for having a good attitude about the situation.

Pair get trapped in Delta A330neo lavatory for 35 minutes

We’d like to think that aircraft lavatories are unlikely to trap people. They can be opened not just from the inside, but also from the outside. Well, like most things, they do sometimes malfunction, as a traveler on a recent Delta flight learned the hard way.

This incident happened on flight DL68 from Taipei (TPE) to Seattle (SEA), operated by an Airbus A330-900neo. The father who shares the story was returning home to the United States after an extended trip to Taiwan, to visit family.

Early in the flight, he noticed one of the lead flight attendants showing another member of the flight crew something with a butter knife, which he didn’t think much of at the time, but it ends up being an important detail.

Around eight hours into the flight, his three-year-old needed to use the lavatory, so he left his partner and one-year-old at their seats, approximately 12 rows away. After taking care of business, the dad and toddler tried to exit the tiny lavatory, only to find that the door wouldn’t open after it was unlatched. He kept trying to open it, but the door just wouldn’t move.

Then the following series of events reportedly happened, whereby the dad and toddler were stuck in the lavatory for a total of 35 minutes:

• While the father started knocking hard on the door, the toddler pushed the flight attendant call button in the lavatory, which was pretty smart, to alert the crew of what was going on
• A flight attendant soon showed up, but the toddler started having a meltdown due to being scared, and actually communicating through the door became nearly impossible, between the crying, the engine noise, the sound insulation, etc.
• The flight attendants kept asking if everything was okay, but couldn’t hear the response, so the dad kept moving the latch, to indicate that it wasn’t opening
• At this point the crew suspected that a toddler was locked in the lavatory alone, so the crew went through the cabin to try to find the family; the crew found the man’s partner, and they asked her to come to the lavatory to check (the partner was furious at this point, thinking that the dad was in the galley eating Sun Chips, letting the toddler go to the bathroom alone)
• The partner heard the toddler having a meltdown, and tried to reassure the crew that they probably just needed a minute, because of the amount of crying she was hearing
• The dad heard the crew asking “do you want to come out?” which made him realize that they thought they were in there voluntarily, rather than being stuck
• At this point the dad started pushing really hard on the door, and pried off the rubber weather stripping, so that he could communicate with the crew
• At this point the dad saw a butter knife sliding through the crack in the door

Here’s how they ultimately managed to get out of the lavatory:

Around the same time a few flight attendants pushed at the door while I rocked it with one hand, the edge of the door started to gap open but still very tight. I held my arm above my kid still standing on the toilet so not to get bashed by a heavy door. At one point they handed me the butter knife to try and dislodge the door release but it was fully stuck. For context I’m 215lbs and relatively strong, this door was secure. Part of me also thought the FA’s kinda just assumed I was going to be angry, traumatized and useless in this situation, so my partner had to tell them repeatedly, let him help you.

Another few minutes of rocking the door back and forth, prying at it, and POP! the lock still dead bolted passed across the interior of the bathroom, the door popped free from the track and the door swung interior. We were freed, I, handed my 3yo over the sink and then I slid through the narrow gap, the flight crew was relieved, as was my family.

The pilots had reportedly been alerted of what was going on, and were preparing to divert the flight. Meanwhile the crew had reportedly been on the phone with the maintenance team on the ground, trying to figure out how to open the door.

Delta offered 4,000 SkyMiles as compensation

Delta reportedly tried to offer 4,000 SkyMiles per passenger as compensation for this incident. SkyMiles are worth about a penny each, so that’s $40 per passenger in value for this inconvenience. He followed up on that complaint after not hearing more from the airline.

In the email, he included the words “lawyer” and “media,” and then received a phone call within an hour. On the phone, Delta was reportedly willing to up that compensation amount to 15,000 SkyMiles per person, including for a fifth person who happened to be on the flight, but wasn’t involved. Ultimately he pushed for more, and they agreed to 17,000 SkyMiles. That’s quite a negotiation process.

However, he ultimately opted for a flight credit, as Delta offered $200 per person. So in the end, they received 4,000 SkyMiles per person (for four people), and a $200 credit per person (for five people).

The man describes the Delta representative as being semi-apologetic, and the airline offered to forward the experience to the maintenance team, but that was the extent of it.

Bottom line

A dad and toddler got trapped in the lavatory of a Delta Airbus A330-900neo on a transpacific flight. Lavatories are typically pretty easy to use, but for whatever reason, the door stopped moving. This caused quite a bit of drama, as they ultimately remained stuck in there for 35 minutes.

Getting stuck in a lavatory is unpleasant under the best of circumstances, but it’s especially unpleasant when it’s two people, including a toddler. Kudos to the dad and toddler for keeping a good attitude about the whole thing.

What do you make of this Delta lavatory incident?