Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Attendant Current
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Flight Crew Diverted; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Aircraft; Company Policy; Procedure
After the first bar cart and meals service XX_16 and I were in the back galley when there was an indication of someone having trouble exiting lavatory D A/C R. XX_16 tried for several minutes to get the lavatory door open. I notified XX_17 of the situation and he came back to assist. Then I notified the Captain of the situation. As they were attempting to open the door I was reviewing our manual which was of no use in this situation. The release mechanism at the top of the door did absolutely nothing. You could pull down on it but what its purpose was we aren't sure.And the bottom of the door was not equipment with any release option. A butter knife was used to try to disengage the door from the frame at all points. The door itself had a piano hinge so taking the hinges out was not an option either. Nothing worked. The whole time the Captain was keeping us up to date on his calls to Maintenance and what they had to say. But there suggestions where nothing we hadn't already tried over and over! XX_16 tried forcing the door open with all his mite. Then an attempt from the passenger to kick at the middle/bottom of the door did absolutely nothing. At some point aircraft L lavatory trapped someone in it! Captain was notified and after 5 minutes that door was freed and the decision was made nobody using that lavatory should lock the door. XX_16 sliced his finger at some point trying to free her. XX_16 keep in contact with her throughout the ordeal. The vents at the bottom of the door couldn't be removed either; in hopes of give her some more airflow and something to drink. At the point of being 45 minutes to DEN the Captain made the best decision to divert to a hub with Maintenance available. XX_16 advises her what was going on and that she needed to sit and brace herself for landing the best she could. XX_16 stayed by the door while we prepared the cabin. Captain made several announcements informing the passengers of the situation and what actions we were taking to get her out. Passenger where very understanding. Upon landing the paramedics arrived and beat on the door demanding she unlock it! We all yelled she is stuck in there we can't get her out! Communication failure at that point probably scared the passenger to death! Maintenance attempted to release the door just like XX_16 and XX_17 had done only they used screw drivers. Maintenance had no other option after their attempts failed to let the firefighters pry the door open with their equipment. When the passenger exited you could see the look of shock on her face. She denied medical attention but probably due to the fact she was embarrassed of the whole situation. The inflight Supervisor that meet our flight treated us with dignity and respect and it was greatly appreciated to feel like someone actually was looking out for us because that's not usually the case. A failure to communicate to all departments with the details of the situation was sad to hear. The team of people that boarded where told she locked herself in and wouldn't come out. Epic failure to make in this situation. And the fact everyone that communicate with the Captain during the flight to continue to ZZZ with her in there because she wasn't 'hysterical' is beyond pathetic. Everyone handles situation different and because she wasn't screaming and crying does not make her okay with the situation she was in.The whole situation could have been avoided due to the fact I informed the Captain out of ZZZ that morning of 3 safety items and he chose not to call Maintenance. The lavatory door being one of them.
Flight Attendant reported that a passenger became trapped in lavatory because of a malfunctioning door and the Captain diverted to an airport staffed by company Maintenance.