A United Airlines flight was forced to make an unexpected landing Wednesday after a passenger became stuck inside one of the plane's bathrooms.
Flight 1554 was traveling from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco when "the lavatory door became inoperative," according to a statement from the airline. A female passenger, who has remained unnamed, was apparently stuck inside.
It's unclear how long the woman was trapped, but footage of the incident shows numerous passengers trying to help pry the door open.
"We're just working on opening up the door at the moment, ma'am. We'll get you out soon, OK?" a man can be heard saying in one video, which was posted to Twitter by a user named @taylorkkimber.
Other passengers seemed to have had a more lighthearted response to the incident.
"I've been on many flights but this is a new one," passenger Todd Wagner said on Twitter. "Bring on the bathroom humor."
The rescue attempts were unsuccessful, and the flight was forced to divert course for Denver. Once the plane landed, the Denver Fire Department came aboard and was eventually able to open the door, NBC News reported.
"Five burly Denver fire guys just got the woman out. The plane erupted in applause," Wagner tweeted. "The woman looks mortified."
United said the passengers were transferred to a new plane and that everyone made it to their final destination safely. The flight landed in San Francisco at 11 p.m. Wednesday night, about two-and-a-half hours after its original arrival time.
Andrea Hiller, a spokeswoman for the airline, told USA Today that the company had reached out to each person on board — including the trapped woman — to apologize.
Perhaps surprisingly, this wasn't the only toilet-related emergency to occur on a plane this week. Thursday, an Alaskan Airlines flight was forced to divert its course after a passenger became angry that he was denied access to the first-class bathroom.
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