A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Seattle to Newark initiated an emergency diversion to Chicago on Tuesday after a 69-year-old passenger became trapped inside a lavatory. The woman got stuck in the rear lavatory while the aircraft cruised at 35,000 feet as flight attendants tried unsuccessfully to open the jammed door.

Flight UA1900 began descending toward Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) before the crew managed to free the passenger partway through the descent. With the woman out of the lavatory and unharmed, the pilots called off the diversion and continued to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), where the aircraft landed safely.

United’s Emergency Diversion As Woman Gets Stuck In Lavatory

Credit: Simple Flying

As first reported by Airlive, flight UA1900 departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on schedule at 7:00 AM local time on October 13. However, roughly two and a half hours into the flight, the crew discovered that a passenger was trapped in the rear lavatory because of a faulty door mechanism. Flight attendants first tried to release the lock from outside, then resorted to using onboard tools to pry the door open.

The crew reportedly spent 15 minutes unsuccessfully attempting to open the door before the captain contacted air traffic control (ATC) and said he was unwilling to leave the passenger trapped for more than 20 minutes. The crew then began preparing to divert. Flight tracking data shows that the Boeing 737 MAX began descending toward O’Hare and reached 27,000 feet as controllers cleared it for an emergency approach.

However, during the descent, the crew finally managed to open the door and free the passenger, allowing the pilots to cancel the emergency diversion. The aircraft then climbed back to 37,000 feet and continued toward Newark, landing safely around four and a half hours after leaving Seattle.

Lavatory Locks Must Open From The Outside

Credit: KITTIKUN YOKSAP | Shutterstock

Commercial aircraft are designed to prevent passengers from becoming trapped inside lavatories. Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation 14 CFR 25.820, lavatory doors must be designed so that occupants cannot become trapped, and any locking mechanism must be capable of being unlocked from outside without special tools.

Typically, a hidden override behind the lavatory sign allows cabin crew to release the lock from the outside. However, in the case of flight UA1900, the latch reportedly remained stuck despite the crew following the standard procedure to open the door. Simple Flying contacted United for comment, but a representative could not be reached before publication.

The incident bears similarities to United flight 1554 in September 2019, which diverted after a passenger also became trapped inside a 737 lavatory. The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Washington, DC, to San Francisco, but diverted to Denver. It was met by firefighters from the Denver Fire Department, who were able to open the door.

FAA Has Previously Flagged Boeing 737 Lavatory Door Latches

Credit: Ryken Papy | Shutterstock

This is not the first time a faulty lavatory lock has caused problems on a Boeing 737. In April 2025, the FAA proposed an airworthiness directive (AD) covering more than 2,600 US-registered Boeing 737 aircraft after a report of a passenger becoming trapped in a lavatory because of a broken latch.

On that occasion, the flight attendants were also unable to open the folding door, forcing the crew to make an unscheduled landing. The FAA did not identify the flight involved but traced the problem to fatigue in the latch’s plastic structure. It has not been established whether the latest United incident involved the same defect.

The directive applied to previous-generation 737-700, 737-800, 737-900, and 737-900ER models, as well as the 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9. The FAA estimated that the required repairs could cost up to $1,302 per aircraft, with total costs across US operators potentially reaching $3.4 million.