Things go horribly wrong at 30,000 feet, and the Frontier Airlines captain turns to a passenger poll to figure out who can ‘hold it’

A TikTok user named Heather shared a terrible flight experience that left her and over 100 passengers in a nightmare situation. She was flying with her family from El Salvador to Atlanta on Frontier Airlines when things went wrong. Her video about the incident has been viewed more than 2.7 million times.

According to Bro Bible, Heather and her family boarded the plane and were told that only one bathroom was working, even though there were at least 100 people on board. Things got much worse when someone threw up in the sink of that bathroom halfway through the flight. 

The bathroom was then marked as a biohazard, which meant no one could use it at all. Flight attendants started discussing where they could land the plane early. They talked about stopping in Cancun or Fort Lauderdale to fix the problem.

The security checkpoint made everything worse

Heather explained how the situation became so bad in the first place. After going through normal airport security, her family bought drinks and snacks. But when they reached the gate, there was another security check that they didn’t expect.

“They are taking everyone’s bags, purses, strollers, everything, and dumping them out on the table. All your underwear, your clothes, every single pocket. [They’re] checking for liquids, because no drinks are allowed on the plane,” Heather said on her TikTok video.

Many passengers, including Heather and her family, started drinking their beverages quickly so they wouldn’t have to throw them away. This turned out to be a big mistake. When they got on the plane, they learned only one bathroom was working. Heather said this information was only given in English, even though many passengers only spoke Spanish.

A long line formed for the bathroom as soon as people realized what was happening. Then a passenger vomited in the sink, and the bathroom had to be shut down completely. The captain asked passengers who needed to use the bathroom and who could wait. The flight was supposed to last about four hours. Similar unexpected situations have happened to travelers before, like when a woman’s car dealership visit took a shocking turn.

“[The captain]’s like, ‘Okay, so I can’t continue on with no working bathroom. So, we’re either gonna land in Cancun or Fort Lauderdale,’” Heather recounted. He decided to land in Tampa instead. Even after landing, the situation stayed stressful. 

While technicians fixed one bathroom, crew members pressured passengers who needed the toilet, telling them they needed to get back in the air quickly. Heather and her family finally made it to Atlanta. Despite this bad experience, she said she might still use Frontier again because of the cost savings.

It might seem shocking, but airlines are allowed to fly without working bathrooms. According to a 2015 Chicago Tribune article, the Federal Aviation Administration lets airlines decide whether to cancel a flight or inform customers and fly anyway.

Luckily, this doesn’t happen often. A 2018 study by the United States Government Accountability Office found that only 2% of flights had bathroom problems. This includes toilets that don’t work, bathrooms that are very dirty, or those without running water.

Passengers are usually notified before boarding so they can use airport bathrooms. If all bathrooms stop working, the pilot and dispatch must decide whether to take off or land early, just like what happened in Heather’s case. Travel nightmares can happen in many ways, including when someone discovers something shocking at home.