Remember the "Stews in the loos" scandal a few months ago? Turns out other airlines also have trouble with crew in the toilet...
Picture the scene: on a flight within Europe, the Captain goes back to the lavatory for a much needed sanitary break.
On completing the task in hand (history doesn't record if he washed his hands, but let's assume he did
) he attempted to open the door and return to the flight deck. Much to his chagrin the door refused to open. Repeated attempts to coax it open also failed. After some time, his attempts to open it had escalated into attempts to kick it down. Unfortunately he had forgotten that the lavatory door on his aircraft opens
inward.
By this time the entire cabin crew had gathered around the lavatory, and were trying to persuade the skipper to desist, to enable them to open the door from outside. However, his efforts were so strenuous that no cabin crew member felt able to access the hinge release mechanism. After some time he managed to break the door free of its track, and returned to the flight deck.
Overnight work by station engineering managed to repair the door sufficiently that passengers were again able to use the facilities.
Captain X runs the risk of being known as "the captain who locked himself in the loo" for the rest of his career.
