A new Frontier Airlines Airbus was forced to make an emergency landing after water from the airplane’s bathroom flooded the cabin.
Frontier Airlines Flight 3566 took off from Denver International Airport on Wednesday at 11.03MST en route to Detroit Metro Airport, but was diverted after a faucet broke, according to air traffic recordings and flight tracking data.
The new Airbus twin-jet made an emergency landing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport just before 2pmCST as pilots feared the water could come into contact with electronics.
‘Mayday, mayday, mayday. We’d like to declare an emergency. Our forward lav sink has sprung a leak,’ the pilot told air traffic control, according to audio on LiveATC.
‘It’s spraying so much water that it’s flooding the entire cabin area in the back and we are worried about electronics. We’d like to divert to Chicago O’Hare.’
The airline said in a statement that the faucet in the plane’s front bathroom sprung a leak, ‘which caused water to flow along part of the aircraft floor.’
‘As a result, the captain requested an emergency landing at Chicago O’Hare. The flight landed safely and no injuries were reported among passengers and crew.’
Keegan Morris, a veteran on the flight who was flying with Frontier on Veterans Day, shared photos and videos of the plane during the flooding.
A new Frontier Airlines Airbus was diverted on Wednesday to Chicago after a faucet burst and flooded the plane’s floor
Photos shared on social media showed a slick floor as flight attendants stepped on a soaked carpet
The footage showed a slick floor as flight attendants tried to move through the cabin.
‘Can someone at Frontier Airlines please explain to me why they are not paying for me to get another flight with another airliner considering their brand new plane decided to flood mid-air?’ Morris wrote.
He claimed the airline’s customer service only refunded part of the flight, and he will have to pay more to get to his destination.
Morris added that he struggled to get a flight out of Chicago on Wednesday to his layover destination in Detroit.
He called the ordeal ‘frustrating’ and asked his followers to share the post, urging them not to book with Frontier.
A passenger on the plane also told CBS Chicago that a plumber was coincidentally on the flight and shut off the water, but water had already pooled in the cabin by then.
The flight took off at 11.03MST in Denver and made an emergency landing in Chicago at 1.53pmCST
A spokesperson for Frontier told the outlet that the plane was parked at gate M40 for maintenance, and a replacement plane was sent to take passengers to Detroit.
Flight tracking data showed the plane departed Chicago for Detroit at 6.12pmCST and landed at 8.04pmEST, marking an almost eight-hour ordeal for what was supposed to be a less-than-three-hour flight.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Frontier for additional comment.
