A Ryanair plane packed with returning British tourists had to divert due to a mid-air toilet malfunction. Ryanair flight FR1667 should have reached Bristol at around 5pm on Monday (December 8) after departing from Fuerteventura at lunchtime.

But it diverted to the neighbouring Canary Island of Lanzarote soon into its three and a half hour journey after “some toilets” stopped working, according to local air traffic controllers. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday what exactly the problem was. Similar incidents in the past have led to passengers having to use bottles to relieve themselves.

The plane touched down in Lanzarote just before 3pm yesterday after an hour and a half up in the air. Spanish air traffic controllers said on social media: “The flight crew on a plane from Fuerteventura to Bristol asked to return to Lanzarote because of problems with some of the toilets. It landed without problems.”

They shared the flight schedule of the Ryanair plane, showing the Boeing 737 was north of the Canary Islands over the Atlantic when it turned back round.

No one from the low-cost airline could be reached last night or early this morning to explain exactly what had happened and say whether passengers had been able to continue to their intended destination or had to spend the night in Lanzarote.

In August, Virgin Australia passengers reportedly had to use bottles after all three onboard toilets failed on a six-hour flight from Bali to Brisbane.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 had already departed with one toilet out of service and the remaining two stopped working mid-flight, leaving passengers without facilities for the final three hours.

One elderly woman is said to have wet herself while others passengers described foul smells and urine seeping onto the floor.
Virgin apologised afterwards, praising the crew for handling a “challenging situation”.

A Jet2 flight from Edinburgh to Tenerife had to be given priority landing last Thursday after a cabin crew member was attacked by a passenger.

Air traffic controllers at Tenerife South Airport allowed the pilot to shorten the plane’s journey “as much as possible” as it landed.
The crew asked for medical assistance and police to meet the plane when it touched down.

A Jet2 spokesperson said afterwards: ‘We can confirm that police were called to offload a disruptive passenger from flight LS739.”