Passengers aboard a Virgin Australia flight from Bali to Brisbane were forced to urinate in bottles after all toilets broke down mid-flight. The six-hour journey on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 saw an elderly woman suffer the 'humiliation' of soiling herself in public, according to reports.
Cabin crew placed notices on the lavatories declaring them out of order after a massive blockage. The rear facilities had already been withdrawn from service before departure, leaving only one functional cubicle initially, which later also failed.
Bottles were reportedly handed out for passengers who could not wait. One traveller told The Australian: 'One elderly woman was unable to hold on and suffered the humiliation of wetting herself in public. Midway through the flight, every toilet had failed. The cabin crew informed us we would need to relieve ourselves in bottles or on top of whatever was already in the toilet.'
Virgin Australia apologised, stating: 'A Virgin Australia flight from Denpasar to Brisbane on Thursday evening experienced an issue during the flight which affected the serviceability of the lavatories. We sincerely apologise to our guests and thank our crew for managing a challenging situation on board.'
The Australian Transport Workers Union (TWU) described the incident as a 'distressing event, which constitutes a severe hazard both for crew and passengers'. TWU national assistant secretary Emily McMillan criticised the industry trend towards 'profits over performance'.
