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'Only two potties': American Airlines pilot declares emergency after six of eight toilets fail on Madrid flight

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026 · last updated 8 October 2026.

An American Airlines A321 aircraft. The carrier's Boeing 777 was diverted to JFK on 23 August after six of its eight toilets failed, leaving just two lavatories for more than 280 passengers.
An American Airlines A321 aircraft. The carrier's Boeing 777 was diverted to JFK on 23 August after six of its eight toilets failed, leaving just two lavatories for more than 280 passengers.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 287 passengers was diverted to New York's JFK airport mid-Atlantic after six of its eight toilets stopped working, leaving just two lavatories for the entire plane. The pilot of Flight AA37, en route from Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth, radioed air traffic control to report "only two potties operating on board" before declaring a pan-pan urgency alert. The aircraft spent nearly three and a half hours on the ground before finally completing its journey to Dallas, arriving almost four hours late.

With 287 people aboard and just two working toilets, each lavatory was serving over 140 passengers.

A pan-pan is a step below a mayday — it signals an urgent situation that is not immediately life-threatening.

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