The past few years have not been good for Boeing. Not that they can blame anyone but themselves. But the list of issues with their planes in recent years is pretty overwhelming. Deadly crashes of its 737 MAX 8 jets in 2018 and 2019. A 737 Max 9 lost a rear door plug. A 737-800 had a cracked windshield in the cockpit. Loose parts on multiple grounded 737 MAX 9s. Flames coming out of a 747-8. A 787-9 had a midflight technical issue that caused the aircraft to quickly lose altitude. 8 of the 9 lavatories on a 787 Dreamliner stopped working, midflight. A 777-300 was discovered to have a fuel leak. The front nose wheel of a 757 fell off. One of the wheels of a 777-200 fell off. An exterior panel of a 737-800 fell off. Oh, and don’t forget that 2 astronauts were stranded on Boeing’s CST-100 Starline spaceship for months because of issues with the thrusters and helium leaks.
And then, undoubtedly in relation to the above, they’ve had internal problems, too. Class action suits. FAA’s audit of safety procedures. An exodus of the company’s executives. A union strike. Layoffs. Production delays. The deaths of two whistleblowers.
And now, they might have yet another problem on their hands — all because someone got stuck in a Boeing lavatory.
You may remember that back in January 2024, an unnamed male passenger became trapped in the lavatory of the Boeing 737 he was traveling in.
He tried to leave the small space but couldn’t get the door to open – it had malfunctioned.
The flight attendants realized he was stuck when he made ‘distress calls’ but they couldn’t unlock the door from their side, either (lavatories, of course, have a secret mechanism so FAs can enter the lav in the event of an emergency, but the mechanism didn’t work).
The man was, understandably, panicked by what was happening. So a flight attendant came up with a genius idea to try to reassure him.
The crew communicated to the trapped passenger via a note that they slid under the door. It read:
Sir we tried our best to open the door. However, we could not open. Do not panic, we are landing in a few mins, so please close the comode lid and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, engineer will come. Do not panic.
Fortunately, the SpiceJet Flight SG-268, traveling from Mumbai to Bengaluru, was a short one – about 105 minutes.
The passenger was rescued shortly after the plane landed in Bengaluru and an engineer unlocked the door. By then, the poor guy had been confined for over an hour.
Spicejet put out a statement regarding the event:
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. 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.
The aftermath
Although the story was widely reported immediately after it happened, you didn’t hear much about the ordeal after January 2024. Well, until now.
The Economic Times is reporting that the lavatory latch malfunction could now mean thousands of Boeing 737s now need modification.
The FAA published a notice stating it received a report that a passenger was trapped in a lavatory during a flight because the door had a broken latch and therefore couldn’t be opened. It continued with outlining an airworthiness directive for 2,612 jets registered in the U.S.
The FAA said passengers trapped in a bathroom could be at risk of serious injury in an ‘otherwise survivable emergency event,’ such as turbulence or if they suffered a medical episode while stuck in the john (OK, they didn’t say “while stuck in the john;” I did. But that’s what they meant).
As a result, the agency stated that door latches with four different part numbers need to be replaced to prevent the situation from happening again.
FAA estimates the fix, taking into account $481 (!!!) per latch, plus labor costs, could cost about $3.4 million.
The notice would apply to roughly 3/4 of the current 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, 737-900ER, 737 Max 8, and 737 Max 9 jets.
The FAA is giving all those involved a deadline of May 27 to respond.
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1 comment
A number of incidents you cite are, indeed, defects in manufacturer materials or workmanship. But you also mix in a number of incidents that are clearly airline MRO issues.