You have probably never asked yourself about the mechanics of an airplane toilet. Nor should you. But when onboard toilets cause an emergency landing because they’re clogged, it’s something you need to worry about. A flight belonging to Cathay Pacific, an airline company based in Hong Kong, had to make an emergency stop in Mumbai, India because all 10 bathrooms were clogged.

The 278 passengers on the unfortunate flight were delayed 18 hours.

A similar incident happened when two other flights from Hong Kong, when the airline had to refuse boarding to about half of the passengers because the bathrooms on one side of the plane could not be used.

According to a Cathay Pacific spokesman quoted by Gadling, incidents occured on the Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft and suggested passengers are guilty for the toilet clogging.

‘You would be amazed at what we find in the pipes when we clean the system – not just face towels but medicine bottles, socks and even children’s stuffed toys,’