An American Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth diverted to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) after six of its eight toilets stopped working.
Flight AA37 carried 275 passengers and 12 crew members, leaving just two working lavatories for 287 people.
American said the aircraft made a normal landing at JFK on October 6, 2026, and continued to Dallas after a maintenance inspection. The airline has not said what caused the failures.
“We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience,” American said in a statement.
The FAA confirmed that the crew diverted because there were too few working lavatories.
The problem also prompted an unusual exchange with air traffic control as the aircraft approached New York.
“We have only two potties operating on board for American 37,” a pilot said in a recording posted to LiveATC.net.
The controller asked the pilot to confirm that only two toilets were working and the pilot confirmed his reason for the diversion.
The crew also made a PAN-PAN urgency call, signifying a serious situation but not an emergency.
The aircraft remained at JFK for more than three hours before departing for Dallas, according to flight-tracking data.
Lavatory failures have disrupted other long-haul flights. In March 2025, an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi returned to Chicago after eight of its 12 toilets became unusable. The airline said plastic bags, rags and clothing had been flushed down the toilets and become stuck in the plumbing.
In April 2023, an Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 bound for Newark returned to Vienna after five of its eight toilets failed. The airline attributed the failures to a problem with the lavatory vacuum system.