300 passengers on a flight to New York had to rebook their trips after the toilets got clogged 2 hours in, forcing the plane to turn back

• An Austrian Airlines plane was forced to turn back mid-flight after its toilets broke down.
• The crew found that five out of its eight toilets could not flush, a spokesperson told AFP.
• Around 300 people were on board the Boeing 777, which was two hours into its journey.

Clogged toilets on an Austrian Airlines plane forced the flight to turn back two hours into its journey.

The Monday flight from Vienna to New York, typically an eight-hour trip, turned back after the crew found that five of the eight toilets on board couldn't flush properly, an airline spokesperson told AFP.

Around 300 people were on board the Boeing 777, and were later rebooked on other flights, AFP reported.

It's the first time broken toilets have disrupted an Austrian Airlines flight, the carrier's spokesperson told AFP. The plane is now back in operation, the spokesperson said. 

Austrian Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Passenger flights typically divert to the nearest airport when their toilets get jammed.

A Norwegian Air flight with 85 plumbers on board returned to Oslo in January 2018 when its toilets broke down. Several of the plumbers said they couldn't fix the clog in the sky as it required accessing the plane's exterior.

One American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Hawaii in August 2018 also could not divert to an airport after a diaper blocked a toilet because the plane was flying over the Pacific Ocean. Passengers said they were told to urinate in plastic bags and bottles.

Similarly, a December 2013 United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Cleveland was also canceled because a diaper clogged its lavatory.