The pilot announced that the long haul flight could not continue due to health and safety concerns over pungent odour emanating from plane's toilet
A British Airways flight to Dubai was forced to return to Heathrow Airport when a “smelly poo in the toilet” became unbearable for passengers.
The pilot announced that the long haul flight had to be aborted, after cabin crew were unable to prevent the pungent odour emanating from an overflowing toilet.
Around 30 minutes in the seven-hour flight, the plane returned to London amid health and safety concerns.
Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev, who represents Potters Bar Parkfield was on the plane and said it was “insane” that passengers had to wait 15 hours for another flight due to a “smelly poo in the toilet”.
He told Mail Online: “The pilot made an announcement requesting senior cabin crew, and we knew something was a bit odd.
“About 10 minutes later he said you may have noticed there’s a quite pungent smell coming from one of the toilets.”
Mr Sachdev, who was not seated near the toilet in question, said: “He said it was liquid faecal excrement, those are the words he used.
“He said it’s not a technical fault with the plane, and he was very adamant about that.”
The captain said the plane’s crew had investigated the problem, but were unable to fix it, so the plane would need to return to London for health and safety reasons.
Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev
The BA105 flight took off at 8.15pm on Thursday night and was due to land in Dubai seven hours later. Instead, passengers had to wait 15 hours before they could resume their journey, and caught another flight to Dubai at 1pm on Friday.
Mr Sachdev, who was travelling with his pregnant wife, Rupa, and their two-year-old daughter, Shravani, said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose a whole day of your trip.
"You might expect it on some random airline, but you wouldn’t expect it from British Airways.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: "We're very sorry for the discomfort to our customers. We provided them with hotel accommodation and rescheduled the flight to depart the next day."
“About 10 minutes later he said you may have noticed there’s a quite pungent smell coming from one of the toilets.”
Mr Sachdev, who was not seated near the toilet in question, said: “He said it was liquid faecal excrement, those are the words he used.
“He said it’s not a technical fault with the plane, and he was very adamant about that.”
The captain said the plane’s crew had investigated the problem, but were unable to fix it, so the plane would need to return to London for health and safety reasons.
Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev
The BA105 flight took off at 8.15pm on Thursday night and was due to land in Dubai seven hours later. Instead, passengers had to wait 15 hours before they could resume their journey, and caught another flight to Dubai at 1pm on Friday.
Mr Sachdev, who was travelling with his pregnant wife, Rupa, and their two-year-old daughter, Shravani, said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose a whole day of your trip.
"You might expect it on some random airline, but you wouldn’t expect it from British Airways.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: "We're very sorry for the discomfort to our customers. We provided them with hotel accommodation and rescheduled the flight to depart the next day."