Woman on a United Chicago-to-New York flight tries to go to the bathroom. Then she realized her awkward mistake

Airline passengers can run on little sleep, and one woman paid the price when she found herself in an awkward situation on a recent United Airlines flight. TikToker @babyapplefritter shared a particularly embarrassing experience during a flight from Chicago to New York.

She prefaced her TikTok with on-screen text that read, “If you were flying the 10am United flight from Chicago to New York, I’m so sorry.” She then spoke to the camera to explain her accidental in-flight blunder.

“Today I was on a plane, and I tried to go to the bathroom, and I saw somebody walk out of it, so I knew it was vacant, except I couldn’t open the door, so I was shaking the handle… ” she said, before revealing: “It was the cockpit.”

Blame her lack of sleep for that in-flight blunder

“I shook it for like 30 seconds because I was like, ‘What the hell,’ and I was looking like straight down at the handle,” she continued. “There’s a sign directly in front of my face that said, like, ‘Authorized personnel only past this point,’  so I wonder if a pilot today thought that they were getting hijacked?” In the video description, the TikToker shared more context, adding, “To be fair I slept maybe one full hour last night.”

Commenters found the anecdote amusing. “Airport bars are trouble,” one quipped. Another remarked, “They probably thought it was the turbulence. Today was one of those days!” A third joked, “I would’ve been arrested.” “The pilots would be like, ‘WTF is that noise?’ and I’m talking from experience,” a pilot commented. A United flight attendant also weighed in, saying, “This happens more than you think haha.”

The rules regarding cockpit access changed significantly following the September 11 attacks. According to the blog Ask Captain Lim, friends and family members used to be allowed to sit in the cockpit during takeoff, landing, and cruising. Since 9/11, however, Lim notes that cockpit visits have been heavily restricted.

He added that the cockpit door is locked to prevent unauthorized entry, and only crew members with the captain’s permission are granted access. According to Lim, cockpit visits are now limited to brief visits before takeoff and after landing. While passengers can request a cockpit tour by asking a flight attendant, the final decision rests with the captain and depends on the pilots’ workload.