Passengers flying from Oakland to Chicago aboard a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 on April 22nd experienced their aircraft diverting to Las Vegas. The reason? All toilets onboard were reportedly 'out of service.' It's a somewhat surprising scenario, particularly given the fact that the aircraft is less than six months old.

Flight and incident details

On April 22nd, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX took off from Oakland (OAK) for Chicago's Midway Airport (MDW). Operating as flight WN1923, FlightRadar24.com notes that this service departed Oakland at 06:07 local time, less than 15 minutes after its original scheduled time of 05:55.

flight path
Photo: FlightRadar24.com

The Aviation Herald reports that the aircraft, registered N8837Q, was at 37,000 feet about 170 nautical miles north of Las Vegas when the crew made the decision to divert to Las Vegas (LAS) due to all the toilets onboard being out of service. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is fitted with three lavatories: One at the front and two at the rear of the aircraft.

Unfortunately, there were no further details as to the nature of the malfunction nor any specific causes revealed. With the 737 MAX being approximately four months old (delivered in January 2023), there is a low probability that the malfunction had to do with the aircraft's systems.

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Diversion and two hours in Las Vegas

Upon deciding to divert, the aircraft turned south over the area of The Great Basin National Park and made its way toward Las Vegas. The aircraft then landed safely at LAS about 40 minutes later after the crew's decision to land at the nearest suitable airport.

After touchdown, the aircraft reportedly spent two hours on the ground before taking off again. FlightRadar24.com data shows that WN1923 resumed with a departure from LAS at 09:31, arriving at MDW at 14:27 local time. As the service had a set arrival time of 12:00 local, the passengers reached Chicago nearly two and a half hours behind schedule.

A similar incident over Spain

Although we don't know the cause of this recent Southwest incident, we can say that it's not the first instance of an aircraft diverting due to lavatory issues.

In November 2022, Simple Flying reported on a Jet2 flight from Las Palmas to Manchester, which was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Bilbao due to lavatories reportedly being out of order. Whilst on the ground, the Airbus A321 had its waste tanks emptied, indicating that the 'outage' was likely due to a full waste tank - something that could very well have been the reason for our recent Southwest incident as well. As these types of duties are the responsibility of ground crews at the airport, departing with a full waste tank would seem to indicate an oversight on the part of airport personnel.

But what do you think of this incident? Do you have any ideas as to what the cause of three out-of-service toilets might be? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Sources: The Aviation Herald, Planespotters.net, FlightRadar24.com, ch-aviation.com

  • Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 San Francisco
    Southwest Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    WN/SWA
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Midway International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1967
    CEO:
    Robert Jordan
    Country:
    United States