United UA1900 Descends Toward Chicago After a Passenger Is Trapped in a 737 MAX Lavatory

United Airlines flight UA1900 from Seattle to Newark left its cruising altitude over Wisconsin on October 13, 2026, after a 69-year-old passenger became trapped in a lavatory, AIRLIVE reported. The crew freed her during the descent, and the Boeing 737 MAX 8 climbed back up and flew on to Newark.

AIRLIVE was first to report the episode, on October 17, four days after the flight. United had not commented when Simple Flying asked, and AeroCorner found no statement from the airline at the time of writing.

What the tracking data shows

FlightAware’s records show UA1900 was flown by N27274, a Boeing 737 MAX 8. It pushed back from the gate in Seattle at 6:52 a.m. Pacific time, eight minutes early, and took off at 7:05 a.m.

The jet cruised at 35,000 feet (10,700 m) across the northern states. At 11:50 a.m. Central time, about 2 hours 45 minutes after takeoff and over western Wisconsin, it began to descend.

About nine minutes later it leveled at 27,000 feet over south-central Wisconsin, about 140 miles (225 km) northwest of Chicago O’Hare. It stayed there for about two minutes, then climbed, reaching 37,000 feet by 12:11 p.m. Central.

The flight landed at Newark at 2:33 p.m. Eastern, 4 hours 28 minutes after takeoff, and reached the gate at 2:41 p.m. That was about 40 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival, and FlightAware does not list the flight as diverted.

What happened in the cabin

About two and a half hours into the flight, crew members realized the woman was locked inside the aft lavatory by a malfunctioning door mechanism, AIRLIVE reported. Flight attendants first tried the standard way of opening the door from outside, but the latch stayed stuck.

After about 15 minutes, including attempts to pry the door open with onboard tools, the captain told air traffic control he did not want to leave her inside for more than 20 minutes, AIRLIVE reported, citing flight deck communications. The jet then started down toward Chicago O’Hare for a diversion, the report said.

Flight attendants freed the passenger partway through the descent, and the crew canceled the diversion, according to the same report. AIRLIVE said medical staff were waiting at the gate in Newark to evaluate her, and that she was reported to be in stable condition.

AeroCorner found no statement from United or the FAA on what failed in the door. The timing in AIRLIVE’s account matches the tracking data, which shows the descent starting a little after the two-and-a-half-hour mark.

Why a stuck lavatory door can turn a flight around

FAA certification rules for airliners require lavatory doors to be designed so that no one can become trapped inside. Under 14 CFR 25.820, any lock must be able to be unlocked from outside without special tools, which is why cabin crew can normally open an occupied lavatory from the aisle.

That outside release only works if the latch itself moves. The FAA has found that a failed latch can keep a 737 lavatory door from opening without a mechanic’s help, and reaching a mechanic means a flight diversion.

The FAA has already moved on this kind of failure on the 737. In April 2025 it proposed an airworthiness directive after a report that a passenger could not leave a lavatory in flight because a broken latch would not let the lock toggle.

In that earlier case, the agency said, flight attendants could not open the bifold door and the crew made an unscheduled landing. The FAA traced the root cause to fatigue in the latch’s plastic structure, driven mainly by excessive stress combined with weld lines and machining marks from drilling holes for inserts.

The proposal covers 737-700, -800, -900, -900ER, MAX 8 and MAX 9 jets fitted with four listed part numbers of the bifold door latch, which would be replaced with an improved design within four months of the rule taking effect. The FAA estimated it would affect 2,612 US-registered airplanes, at up to $1,302 per airplane.

Its comment period closed on May 27, 2025. AeroCorner found no final rule under the docket in the Federal Register at the time of writing.

Passengers trapped in lavatories have forced diversions before. In September 2019, United flight 1554 from Washington to San Francisco diverted to Denver after a lavatory door became inoperative with a passenger inside, CBS News reported, and firefighters and a mechanic freed her on the ground.

Lavatory faults also cut short American’s AA37 earlier this month, which diverted to JFK with only two toilets working. On UA1900, the problem was solved in the air, and the jet reached Newark ahead of schedule.