NDTV accessed the video of the passenger stuck inside the washroom.
A passenger flying from Mumbai to Bengaluru was stuck in the washroom of a SpiceJet flight after the door lock malfunctioned, leaving him locked inside for over an hour. The commode lid in the cramped-up toilet was his seat for the rest of the flight.
SpiceJet has expressed regret and apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passenger. It has also said that the passenger will get a full refund on his airfare.
NDTV accessed the video of the passenger stuck inside the washroom. The 25-second clip shows the ordeal of the passenger who left his seat to access the washroom after the plane was airborne only to find himself stuck due to a malfunction.
The passenger shot the video of the plane trauma he witnessed. The man is standing in the washroom and is trying to push the door, someone from outside is trying to move the door knob to open it but to no avail. In one of the frames, it can be seen that the door is unlatched and the man is trying to push it but because of the lock malfunction, the door is stuck. The trapped passenger was in a state due to this shock confinement
A cousin of the passenger told NDTV, “The kind of negligence happening in the airline segment, especially with the safety of the passengers and we wanted this to be highlighted. The airlines dropped an email regarding compensation of Rs 5,000. We asked them are you trying to justify the negligence with this compensation when you’re clearly at fault.”
“The airline should’ve checked before departure and since that email, there has been no call or any contact from SpiceJet. At least they should’ve checked up on him after he went through this traumatising experience,” Vinod Davusi said.
The SpiceJet crew asked the passenger not to panic and slid a note across from under the locked bathroom door, requesting the passenger to stay calm.
“Sir, we tried our best to open the door. However, we could not open it. Do not panic, we are landing in a few minutes. So please close the commode lid sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, the engineer will come. Do not panic,” said the note, which has gone viral on social media.
The passenger was eventually rescued after the plane landed in Bengaluru and an engineer unlocked the door. By then, he had been confined for more than an hour. The flier, SpiceJet said in a statement, was provided medical attention soon after rescue.
“On 16 January, a passenger, unfortunately, got stuck inside the lavatory for about an hour on SpiceJet flight operating from Mumbai to Bengaluru, while the aircraft was airborne due to a malfunction in the door lock,” a statement from the airlines said.
“Throughout the journey, our crew provided assistance and guidance to the passenger. Upon arrival, an engineer opened the lavatory door, and the passenger received immediate medical support,” it added.
The entrapment of the passenger on the SpiceJet flight comes at a time when airline service providers are making headlines for the wrong reasons. Winter conditions in north India have delayed hundreds of flights over the past few days, with passengers complaining of poor communication and inadequate assistance from airline carriers.
In an unfortunate incident, a passenger attacked a pilot onboard an IndiGo flight while he was explaining the reasons for the delay. Air India was in the news for a 17-hour delay that saw passengers eating their meals on the runway as they waited for their journey to begin.
