A Delta flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco had water running down the aisle from the front lavatory during approach, forcing passengers to lift their bags off the floor for landing. That is gross enough, but the safety question is even more interesting.
Delta Flight Floods On Approach To San Francisco, Passengers Told To Hold Bags For Landing
A short Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco turned into something closer to a cabin plumbing incident when water reportedly began flowing down the aisle from the rear lavatory during approach.
The incident occurred on Delta flight 2986 from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO). A passenger posted video to Reddit showing water moving down the aisle from the rear of the aircraft.
The Reddit title said it plainly enough:
“River coming down the aisle from bathroom”
The original poster added:
“DL2986 LAX SFO had water running down the aisle…”
Another passenger asked about bags under the seats, and the original poster replied:
“FA made an announcement to hold bags in their laps.”
That would be my instinct as well, but that did create an even greater safety danger than the water itself?
River coming down the aisle from bathroom
byu/Wooden-Apartment-643 indelta
Was This Lavatory Water Or Something Worse?
Naturally, the first reaction is disgust. Any time water is flowing from the direction of an aircraft lavatory, passengers will assume the worst.
But it is not clear from the video or the reports that this was sewage. It may have been clean water from a supply line, sink, valve, or fitting. That still creates a miserable cabin experience, but there is a difference between a water leak and wastewater flooding the aircraft.
Either way, passengers were apparently forced to walk through it after landing. The aircraft arrived in San Francisco at 10:59 p.m. and then departed for Atlanta the next morning at 6:27 a.m., which suggests Delta had about seven and a half hours to inspect, clean, and prepare the aircraft before it continued service.
A little water on the surface is unpleasant enough, but a bigger concern is what happened below the carpet and around seams…underfloor areas contain wiring and other components that tend not to react well with water.
Holding Bags For Landing Raises A Real Question
The reported instruction that passengers should hold their bags in their laps is odd, as View From The Wing notes.
I understand the practical problem. If water is running down the aisle and pooling under seats, passengers do not want backpacks, purses, laptops, and personal items sitting in it. I would not want my bag in that water either.
But bags are supposed to be stowed for landing, not held in laps. That is the whole point of the pre-landing cabin check. Loose items can become projectiles or interfere with evacuation. A laptop bag in your lap may feel harmless, but it can slow things down during a rapid disembarkation (an issue I visit often when it comes to emergency evacuations).
Maybe the water appeared very late in the approach, and the safest course was to land, keep passengers seated, and avoid anyone reaching around under seats (or maybe the reported announcement was imprecise, or passengers misunderstood the instruction).
But if passengers were actually told to hold bags for landing, that deserves scrutiny.
It is also possible the crew made a pragmatic but reasonable real-time choice under unpleasant circumstances. I am not faulting flight attendants sitting in a jumpseat during approach while water is moving through the cabin. They may have been balancing a bad option against a worse one…
CONCLUSION
Delta flight 2986 from Los Angeles to San Francisco reportedly had water running down the aisle from the rear lavatory area during approach, and passengers say they were told to hold bags in their laps for landing. The gross-out factor will drive the clicks, but the more serious question is whether the aircraft was properly secured for landing and thoroughly inspected before it returned to service…hopefully Delta did not cut any corners there.
image: Reddit
What a nasty, unhygienic (and maybe dangerous) situation in the air! To the attention of DL management!
The correct decision was made. The idea was not to move overhead bin luggage but only pick up under seat ( and likely smaller items). Not a perfect solution but floor flooding is disgusting enough and hopefully they were only minutes out. But again this is the time to obey the flight attendants!
Let’s note that a Delta B767-300ER (the jetliner was 30 years old at the time) en route from PRG to JFK on 7 July 2022 (DL Flight 211) experienced restricted roll control after water from two leaking mid-cabin lavatories froze on critical aileron control components as it neared the Canadian coast. After descending in preparation for an emergency landing in Canada, the pilots regained full control of the aircraft and were able to continue to NYC. The probable cause was the failure of maintenance personnel to close the drain mast heater circuit breakers which resulted in the formation of ice in the forward drain mast, an improper flow of wastewater into the main landing gear wheel well, and the formation of ice on one or more aileron system components.
Following this incident on the night of June 23, 2026, the problematic DL aircraft [a 10.4-year-old B737-900ER (N852DN)] underwent approximately seven and a half hours of extensive maintenance and cleaning at SFO before departing for ATL the following morning. The jetliner is currently ready to depart from the gate at PVR bound for ATL.
Same assclowns who have to use the restroom on a hour flight. Also the same people who take a number 2 on a plane. One of these overeating pigs probably clogged it.
They should be called out and shamed for their actions and lack of common decency.
Nice hot-take for a two-hour flight, but what about SQ’s 19-hour NYC-SIN nonstop? May we doodoo, then?
On the bright side for the Delta economy class passengers, at least they didn’t worry about what to do with their drinks…
Ironically, no drinks on delta flights under 350 miles, which includes this route!
If you look at the pic above, isn´t that the cockpit door? There´s a large peephole. If so, it cannot be the rear toilet…
Right – didn’t I say front lavatory?