A 28-year-old Saudi passenger was arrested in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday after attacking two flight attendants who wouldn’t let him use the bathroom while the plane was landing.
- SriLankan Airlines flight 266 from Riyadh was in its final minutes. The Airbus A330-300 was in its descent into the Colombo airport just after 6 a.m.
- The man tried to use the lavatory. Cabin crew pointed out not just that the seat belt sign was on but that they were about to land.
- And that’s when the man turned violent. Crew members and passengers subdued him, but not before he landed blows. He was arrested at 6:32 a.m. when the aircraft’s doors opened – instead of making his connection to Malaysia.
Specific injuries suffered by the flight attendants haven’t been reported, but they did receive medical attention on arrival. The passenger faced criminal charges today at the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court No. 1.
Generally speaking you need to follow flight attendant instructions and obey the seat belt sign. However, on U.S. airlines and outside of the most critical phases of flight you can still use the lavatory if you really must. Flight attendants will generally tell you that the seat belt sign is on, not that you cannot use the lavatory.
- Many passengers take it to mean they’re being scolded for trying to use the lav, and that they shouldn’t
- When flight attendants are being quite literal. They’ve informed you of the risk. Now it’s on you.
Colombo Airport
Colombo Airport
United flight attendants may lock the lavatories for descent especially when turbulence is expected. (This is somewhat common for Denver.) There you really will need to express the urgency of your needs and ask (or unlock the lav yourself, which escalates matters).
Either way, you’re weighing the risk of getting written up, or even speaking to authorities after the flight, against the likelihood you can make it onto the ground, and taxi to the gate, before reaching a bathroom (either the airplane’s lavatory prior to deplaning or the time it takes to get into the terminal).
It’s far better and usually effective to just go when the seat belt sign is off, prior to descent. That doesn’t always work. Things can come on suddenly. But you should plan when you can. And as bad as not making it to the bathroom would be, the consequences for punching flight attendants over it are actually much worse.
