Bizarre reason flight turned back halfway through journey
Passengers on board a Delta international flight were half-way into their journey when their plane had to turn back rather than carry on to its destination, because of a broken toilet.
Travellers reportedly spent 7.5 hours on the plane from New York’s JFK Airport to France, only for the aircraft to make a u-turn over the Atlantic and return to where it began, rather than carry on to its destination.
It touched down at New York airport at 4.51am Wednesday, which was 20 minutes later than was scheduled to arrive in France had it carried on.
American radio host Andy Cohen journaled the mishap on his Instagram page, sharing a video of himself walking back through JFK in the early hours of the morning, among many posts.
“We were an hour outside of Europe, somebody pooped or put something down the toilet that didn’t go, broke the toilets. Guess where we are? Back at JFK,” he said in the selfie clip.
“We had a round trip to JFK. I had a full night’s sleep, at least,” Cohen said.
Another passenger Wes Lowenfield tweeted a picture of the flight map, saying: “With Delta you can experience the joys of a 9 hour tour to nowhere and back.”
Have you ever taken a u-turn in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? With @Delta you can experience the joys of a 9 hour tour to nowhere and back. And then you get to wait another day to try again! pic.twitter.com/olQ4xxfphd
— Wes Lowenfeld (@WesLowenfeld) August 15, 2018
Honest question @Delta. do I get extra miles for this??? 8/14-DL412. Heading back to the airport for second try today! #2018familyvacation #welcometoskymileselite pic.twitter.com/6u4feGNAkd
— Ralph Lentini (@ralphlent) August 15, 2018
The diverted passengers were placed on a rescheduled flight Wednesday afternoon to reboard.
Delta did not confirm why it made the call to turn the plane around 3.5 hours into the journey rather than carry on, however local media outlets reported the airline had more staff in the US to make repairs than it had in France.
The carrier did confirm a returned flight 412 from JFK Airport to Nice, France was necessary as “The crew received an indication that the lavatories were inoperative”.
“The flight landed without incident and the aircraft proceeded to the gate for maintenance inspection.
“Customers have been re-accommodated on an alternate flight and were offered a gesture of service recovery for the disruption to their travel,” Delta said in a media statement .