September 2, 2025, 12:02 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
An airplane is on a multi-hour flight–and suddenly no one can use the restroom because the toilets are broken. While this is rare, it can happen, as a recent case shows. There are usually specific guidelines on how the crew should handle such a situation. However, these were not followed on a flight from Bali to Brisbane.
Toilets breaking on an airplane is rare, but it does happen. The reasons can vary: Sometimes passengers flush items that don’t belong, leading to clogs. But passengers aren’t always to blame for a broken toilet. On a Virgin Australia flight from Bali to Brisbane at the end of August, a real toilet drama unfolded.
One of the onboard toilets in the Boeing 737 Max 8 was already not working at departure. The airline decided to proceed with the flight anyway. In the air, the remaining toilets also failed, leaving passengers without functioning facilities for the last three hours of the flight. Media reports say the crew asked travelers to use the clogged toilets or resort to bottles if necessary. This resulted in an unpleasant odor spreading through the cabin. After landing, the airline apologized to the passengers, who are supposed to receive a refund for their tickets.
Normally, a stopover is made when toilets are broken. Why this didn’t happen on the flight from Bali to Brisbane is still unclear.
Stopover for Toilet Problems
Interrupting a flight when the toilets malfunction is not an exception but the rule. If a plane suddenly experiences toilet issues in the air, it must either return to the starting point or land at the nearest suitable airport. These are typically the airlines’ instructions.
“If all onboard toilets suddenly become unusable during a flight, a stopover is made at an alternate airport or the flight returns to the starting point,” confirms a Eurowings spokesperson when asked by TRAVELBOOK. Passengers then continue their journey on another plane or only when the toilets can be used again.
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When Planes Make Stopovers or Turn Back Due to Broken Toilets
There have been toilet issues on flights in the past. In March 2023, from India to the U.S., an American Airlines flight from New Delhi to New York City experienced a water leak that flooded the passenger area. Problems arose only in the air, forcing the Boeing 777-300 to make a stopover in Frankfurt am Main. Since the toilets were underwater, they were unusable–making further flight impossible. After an 11-hour stopover in Frankfurt, passengers were finally flown to New York City on a new plane.
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Another headline-making incident occurred in early 2018 on a Norwegian flight from Oslo to Munich. After takeoff, the Boeing 737 had to turn back because the onboard toilets were broken. Paradoxically, 87 employees of a plumbing company were on board, eager to fix the issue but unable to do so because the repair had to be done from the outside, reported WELT. After the problem was fixed at the Oslo airport, the plane resumed its journey to Munich.