Air Canada Flight Landing At Pearson Airport Was Forced To Abort Due To Awkward Emergency

An Air Canada flight arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) ran into an unexpected issue last month that forced the pilot to abort the landing and have to turn around and try again.

But unlike other recent airplane emergencies leading to some rather tense moments for passengers, in this particular case, this flight into Pearson Airport was delayed because of a bathroom-related emergency.

In a video posted on Youtube by Real ATC, you can hear the conversation between the pilot and air traffic control (ATC) as Air Canada flight 1199 from Miami International Airport approached the runway at Toronto Pearson on March 17 and was cleared to land.

"We're going around for Air Canada 1199," the pilot said.

Despite ATC again reiterating that the plane was cleared for landing, the pilot repeated the message that they would instead be going around.

"Do you require any assistance?" ATC asked after giving the pilot directions.

"No," the pilot responded and then clarified why the plane wasn't able to land.

"We had a passenger that ran into the toilet on final (approach), so can't land with that."

Any build-up of tension or confusion from ATC about what had just happened was quickly whisked away by that response, as the controller responded, "Ah, it happens once in a while."

"Best of luck the second time," he said.

The video depicting this bathroom-related emergency quickly received thousands of views online and hundreds of comments, with many people making light of the situation.

"The real gold in this video is the wordless exclamations of frustration just before the pilot explains and the controller offers condolences. 😄," one person wrote.

Others pointed out the missed opportunity for ATC to add to the fun during the conversation with the pilot.

"I’m disappointed that he didn’t say 'good luck on attempt number 2'", another commented.

While this seemed to be nothing more than a funny accident that led to no harm being done, another person said this should be used as an example of the do's and dont's when it comes to passenger behaviour.

"I wish this tape could be shown to every airline passenger, so they understand the seriousness of suddenly getting up to use the restroom during taxi for takeoff or approach to landing," wrote Kevin Madore. "Some emergencies happen, but it is amazing the number of people who DON'T visit the restroom immediately before boarding, and don't time their fluid consumption, to avoid the need to do this during a landing approach."

Finally, others joked at the cost of the go-around and based on the typical cost of operating a jet like this and estimated that this emergency bathroom break may have cost Air Canada up to $1,600.