Transatlantic jet diverts to Shannon to allow passengers use toilet

A transatlantic jet diverted to Shannon Airport early yesterday so that passengers could use the toilet facilities.

The crew of the 26-year-old Boeing 767-300 jet reported that the toilets on board were ‘unserviceable’ and that passengers had an “urgent need” to use toilet facilities.

Open Skies (France) flight BOS-4 was en route from Newark, New Jersey to Orly Airport in Paris and was about 600km south west of Ireland when the crew decided to divert to Shannon.

The pilot told air traffic controllers that they had a “serious problem with their toilets”.

There were 172 passengers on board the flight and the pilot advised controllers there would be an “urgent need for them to go to the toilets”.

The pilot also acknowledged it was an unusual reason to make an unscheduled stop at Shannon. “It’s a very strange thing to come through Shannon for but that’s the case,” the pilot told controllers.

The flight landed at Shannon around 7.30am and taxied directly to the terminal building where airport ground staff were waiting to meet the aircraft.

Support crews were also requested be standing by to service the aircraft’s toilets.

After passengers had the opportunity to use the airport’s toilet facilities the aircraft resumed its journey to Orly Airport in Paris at 9.38am.

In August 2013, a Lufthansa flight from Los Angeles to Munich, Germany diverted to Shannon after the reported “problems with the toilets”.

Ground services were waiting to meet the aircraft and emptied the jet’s waste tanks.

In June 2007, a Continental Airlines flight diverted to Shannon after one of the jets toilets overflowed into the passenger cabin. Continental Flight 71 was en route from Amsterdam to Newark in the US and diverted to Shannon after passengers complained of a foul odour.