Canada pilot in toilet trip drama
Passengers on a Canadian plane had an unsettling in-flight experience after the pilot found himself locked out of the cockpit after a trip to the toilet.

Instead of slipping back inside, the Air Canada Jazz pilot was seen banging on the door and talking to his first officer on an internal phone.

Crew members were forced to take the door off its hinges to let him back in.

An airline spokeswoman said the first officer could have landed the flight by himself, and there had been no danger.

'Rare occurrence'

The incident happened on an internal flight from the Canadian capital Ottawa to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The pilot went to use the toilet at the back of the Bombardier CRJ-100 plane, which carries about 50 passengers, with about 30 minutes of the flight left to go.


At no time was the safety or security of passengers compromised
Manon Stuart
Air Canada Jazz

On his return, he found the door jammed, and it eventually had to be removed to let him back in. The plane landed safely.

Air Canada Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart said the first officer had remained on the flight deck throughout, adding that the door malfunction was a "very rare occurrence".

"To the best of our knowledge, it's the first time we've encountered this problem in-flight," she told AFP news agency.

She said passengers had remained calm during the incident.

"We investigated the incident... and the crew followed standard operational procedures," she was quoted as saying. "At no time was the safety or security of passengers compromised."