Flight attendant forced to hold up broken toilet door for entire 16-hour flight

A Cathay Pacific flight attendant was forced to hold a bathroom door up for an entire flight after it fell off its hingers just moments after takeoff.

It's a nightmare situation to be in not just for cabin crew, but for the passengers themselves.

The amount of toilets onboard an aircraft is limited as it is, and one of them instantly going out of order after leaving the tarmac is far from ideal on your travels across the world.

It took just three minutes after leaving Hong Kong International Airport en route to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, USA for a lavatory door on flight CX840 to collapse and block the aisle, according to the South China Morning Post.

The incident took place on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to New York. (JoanValls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

It's not the best situation to be in, but one person suffered more than anyone else on the flight that day, as a flight attendant seemingly had the role of door support for the duration of the flight.

This might not be so bad at first, but it gets worse when you realise the flight time from Hong Kong to the Big Apple is a dreadful 16 hours.

Flight attendants had desperately tried to get the door back on its hinges, but it just wasn't possible, The Independent reports.

It still hasn't been revealed if someone was using the bathroom when the hinges came off - though that would make for one of the more embarrassing plane stories out there.

The flight attendant held the door. (Threads)

A number of photos were published by the South China Morning Post following the flight's touchdown in New York at approximately 5pm on Monday 15 July.

It showed a flight attendant looking far from thrilled as she held the door up as it remained off its hinges, while she was strapped in her seat.

The cause of the door coming off has not been revealed yet, and despite this problem, the plane touched down in the US with no further known issues, according to The Independent.

You have to feel for the flight attendant though - it's unclear if there were shifts taken by different attendants, but you can imagine that they'd all equally be fed up if it was their job to be a literal door-stop.

Attempts were made to put the door back on it's hinges (Threads)

A Cathay Pacific spokesperson told LADbible: "Cathay Pacific is aware of a defective lavatory door issue on flight CX840 from Hong Kong to New York on 15 July 2024.

"The defect was rectified and our engineering team is performing a follow-up investigation.

"The safety of our customers and crew guides every decision we make. We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused."