“On a recent Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to New Orleans, my husband, Brent, got up to use the bathroom, leaving me, my 4-year-old and 2-year-old in our row,” is how a recent Reddit post began.
What happened next involved a bathroom, flight attendants and even the pilot of the plane.
When her husband was gone for five minutes, the poster thought he might have been taking extra me-time away from their toddlers’ tantrums.
“I didn’t blame him,” she said. Another five minutes went by and her kids started asking for their dad. Then, she heard a flight attendant say the word “stuck,” and she realized it might be Brent.
She found two flight attendants trying to get him out of the bathroom. Apparently, the door had jammed shut.
“Soon, the two flight attendants (both women) recruited a random male passenger to help try to dislodge the door,” she said. “He gave it his damnest, but it was to no avail.”
By that time, efforts to open the door had been going on for around 20 minutes.
“Brent had been stuck in a 3.5 x 5-ft pee and poop box for almost a half hour,” said the Reddit post. That’s when the pilot came down from the cockpit to try and free the woman’s husband.
In a video obtained by PEOPLE, the pilot can be seen pulling at the door.
Brent and the pilot we able to finally open it together – the pilot had to pull while Brent kicked it. At that point, he had been in the bathroom for 35 minutes.
“We thank God that Brent didn’t take our 4-year-old with him. We thank God that it was a 34-year-old man who got stuck and not an elderly person or young child, said the post. “We thank God it wasn’t someone who would have a panic attack over claustrophobia or germaphobia.”
She also said that Delta asked her not to share videos another passenger took of the incident, and that the airline would not refund their tickets. KLTV reported that the passenger was eventually offered the equivalent of $23 in air miles as compensation by the airline’s customer service.
“We have been in contact with the customer following this situation with an offer of apology and are investigating the situation to better understand the root cause and make any changes, as needed, to address the matter going forward,” a spokesperson for Delta told PEOPLE in a statement.
Plane safety has been in the news often this year following an incident where a door flew off a Boeing airplane and subsequent investigations into popular commercial aircraft made by the company. PEOPLE did not identify what company made the plane the couple was on. According to Delta, Boeing is one of four companies that manufacture planes in its fleet.
Last August, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final rule to amend the Department’s Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulation to improve the accessibility of lavatories on single-aisle aircraft.
“This final rule is intended to ensure that our air transportation system is safe and accessible to individuals with disabilities,” said the department. “This rulemaking requires airlines to make lavatories on new single-aisle aircraft large enough to permit a passenger with a disability and an attendant, both equivalent in size to a 95th percentile male, to approach, enter, and maneuver within as necessary to use the aircraft lavatory.”