Plane Diverts to JFK to Prevent a Different Kind of Accident

A long-haul American Airlines flight turned into a high-altitude bathroom scramble on Tuesday. The Madrid-to-Dallas trip diverted to New York's JFK Airport after all but two of the eight toilets on the Boeing 777 went out of service, leaving 287 people onboard with limited options midflight, reports CNN. The pilot radioed that only "two potties" were working and declared a "pan-pan," signaling an urgent but not life-threatening issue.

Because the jet still had more than four hours of fuel, it landed overweight, a situation that can strain brakes. The plane touched down safely, however, then spent more than three hours on the ground before continuing on to Dallas, per FlightAware data. Cornwall Live notes that airplanes typically try to have one lavatory for every 50 passengers—meaning that on this plane, there was an average of one working bathroom for every 140 or so passengers.

American Airlines hadn't commented by late Wednesday morning; an FAA incident/accident notice says to contact the airline for more info. Aviation experts say blocked or malfunctioning air-pressure systems can take days to fix due to the maze of piping involved.