Air India viral video not linked to Chicago-Delhi clogged toilet incident - here's what's happened

A video of passengers arguing with flight staff has gone viral on social media. It is claimed that the video was filmed on an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi. The flight had to return over clogged toilets. However, the video was filmed two months ago and is not from the Chicago to Delhi flight, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

The viral video was shared on the social media platform X by Dom Lucre, claiming it to be from the Chicago to Delhi flight.

Reportedly, an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi spent 10 hours in the air on March 6. It returned to the US after 8 of its 12 toilets were clogged.

“About an hour and forty-five minutes into the flight, the crew reported some of the lavatories in Business and Economy Class to be unserviceable,” the report quoted an Air India spokesperson's statement. When the flight was over the Atlantic Ocean, two-thirds of the toilets were not fit to be used, “causing discomfort to all on board”.

Initially, Air India described the incident as a “technical issue” but later clarified that the toilets had become unusable as passengers tried to flush down “polythene bags, rags, and clothes”.

The airline received massive backlash over the incident, which most social media users called an “embarrassment.”

One of the users commented, “So WHY were all the toilets clogged? Because passengers shoved clothes, plastic bags, and rags down and flushed them down the toilet. Can we honestly dump all the blame on Air India and the crew when people can’t follow basic travel etiquette?”

“I've flown to India a few times. Every flight at least one toilet gets full or closed. They are the craziest bathrooms on flights I've been on,” added another.

“Ten hours with 300 people and ONE working toilet? We can build rockets to Mars but can’t keep a plane’s plumbing from collapsing under half a day’s usage. Refund’s cute, but what about basic human dignity? Maybe the real flight risk is an industry that skimps on the fundamentals. Let’s fix the flush before we fix the fares," another user said.