File photo: The spokesperson said, to her knowledge, such a problem had not occurred on an Austrian Airlines flight before. Picture: Wikimedia Commons
Vienna - An Austrian Airlines plane had to return two hours into a flight from Vienna to New York - after five of eight toilets broke down.
About 300 people were on board Monday’s Boeing 777 flight, which was to set to last eight hours.
The crew decided to turn around after finding the toilets could not be flushed properly due to a technical problem, a spokesperson for the airline told AFP on Tuesday.
She said, to her knowledge, such a problem had not occurred on an Austrian Airlines flight before.
The plane had already been fixed and was back in service, the spokesperson added.
Affected passengers were rebooked on other flights.
When contacted for further comments, Austrian Airlines did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request.
This isn’t the first aviation disaster of this kind.
According to Business Insider, a Norwegian Air flight with 85 plumbers on board returned to Oslo in January 2018 when its toilets broke down.
It was reported at the time that several of the plumbers on-board said they couldn't fix the clog in the sky “as it required accessing the plane's exterior”.
In that same year, an American Airlines flight was diverted after a nappy clogged up one of the toilets.
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