Pilot helps free Delta passenger who got stuck in airplane bathroom for 35 minutes, wife says

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A trip to the bathroom on a recent Delta flight turned into a harrowing ordeal for one unlucky passenger who became "trapped" in the lavatory for over a half-hour, according to his wife.

The man's wife shared his story on Reddit last week, explaining that she and her husband, along with their two children, were flying from Salt Lake City to New Orleans when he got up to use the bathroom.

"After 5 minutes, I wondered what was going on," wrote the Reddit user, who identified her husband as "Brent." "Was he using this time as a much-needed break from my children’s whiney demands and frequent tantrums? I didn’t blame him."

But about 10 minutes later, she said she overheard a flight attendant say the word "stuck" and realized her husband was trapped in the bathroom.

She then looked down the aisle toward the bathroom, where she saw two flight attendants "yanking the bathroom door handle in and attempt to free my trapped husband," she wrote.

Eventually, even the pilot was called over to help Brent escape, as seen in video shared in the Reddit post.

Ultimately, the woman said her husband was freed after "kick[ing] the hell out of the door while the pilot was pulling as hard as possible." He was in there for approximately 35 minutes, she said.

When contacted about the incident, a representative for Delta shared the following statement with Nexstar's WFLA.

"We have been in contact with the customer following this situation with an offer of apology and are investigating the situation to better understand the root cause and make any changes, as needed, to address the matter going forward," the Delta spokesperson wrote.

The Reddit user, however, said she and her husband are not totally satisfied with the airline's response, claiming they offered her husband 2,000 Delta SkyMiles, or the equivalent of around $24, according to Bankrate and NerdWallet.

Despite the ordeal, the woman said Delta's crew members were extremely helpful during the incident.

"We want to make it clear that the airline staff was great, and both flight attendants and pilot were doing their very best to help in this unfortunate situation," the Reddit user wrote. "We have thanked them all personally, and we showed no malice or ill will towards them. Quite the opposite, we kept reassuring them it was not their fault and that they were all great."