Being Stuck in an Airplane Bathroom for an Hour Sounds Awful

Is there anyone who enjoys spending time in airplane bathrooms? They’re not exactly known for their spaciousness, and it’s easy to feel like Gandalf among the hobbits when moving around within them. Some bathrooms are spacious, clean and well-scented; as for airplane bathrooms, it’s more a matter of getting in and out as quickly as possible.

Unless, of course, the lock breaks and you wind up stuck inside. Unfortunately for one passenger on a SpiceJet flight between Mumbai and Bengaluru, that’s precisely what happened to him. Not surprisingly, he was not too thrilled with the experience. I cannot imagine anyone would enjoy being stuck inside such a space for over an hour and a half.

The Times of India has more details on the traveler’s ordeal, and the more details that emerge, the worse the experience sounds. “I was traumatised, dazed, and injured as I was thrown around inside the toilet as the plane landed in Bengaluru,” the traveler told the newspaper in an interview. How do you make being stuck in an airplane bathroom worse? Being stuck there during the landing sounds like the answer to that question.

As the passenger told The Times of India, SpiceJet offered him a voucher worth 5,000 rupees. At the current rate of exchange, this is comparable to $60. He passed on the voucher, which seems understandable; there’s a price to be paid to compensate someone for being stuck inside an airplane bathroom, and — in this reporter’s opinion — it’s a lot more than $60.

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The passenger has told the media that he plans to sue and file a formal complaint. He and the airline also differ about offers of medical attention — he says that the airline did not provide it, they said that they did. As travel nightmares go, this one ranks very high; it’s not hard to see why this has captured the public’s attention, including a mention on this weekend’s SNL. And the next time nature calls when you’re in the air, keep an eye on the lock mechanism on the bathroom door, lest you have an unsettling experience in this vein of your own.