American Airlines flight from Dallas to South Korea forced to turn around due to bathroom issue

An American Airlines flight from Dallas to Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, earlier this month had to turn around mid-flight and head back due to a bathroom malfunction.

American Airlines flight 281 was about five hours into the flight on Sept. 7 when it turned around over the Pacific Ocean south of Alaska and headed back to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. A passenger on board said the lavatories on the aircraft were to blame.

Jimin Lee told The New York Post Tuesday that “the only explanation they gave was the pilot saying the right side of the bathrooms were not working.”

In a video post on Instagram, Ms. Lee recounted the ordeal, including a request from the crew for a Phillips screwdriver; the tools must be seven inches or shorter to bring on board an airplane legally. The nature of the bathroom malfunction was never specified.

In a statement to multiple outlets, American Airlines explained that the flight “returned to DFW due to a maintenance issue. The flight landed safely and without incident at DFW, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team.”

A replacement flight successfully flew to Seoul the next day, though Ms. Lee told The Post that she “missed a big event I was going to attend on Sunday and had to change multiple work meetings.”