DETROIT, Mich. — Travelers headed from Denver to Detroit Metro Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 11, ended up on the ground in Chicago after a faucet in a front restroom on their Frontier Airlines jet started leaking and spread water across the cabin floor.
The pilots called a mayday and told controllers they feared the water could reach the plane’s electronics, then asked to divert to O’Hare International Airport. They were cleared straight there and landed safely shortly before 2 p.m. Chicago time.
On many airliners, key computer equipment sits below the floor near the front of the plane, which is why water in that area is treated as a safety problem rather than a mess.
A passenger said a plumber who happened to be on board managed to shut off the water, but by then much of it had already spilled out.
Frontier said no passengers or crew were hurt. The airline blamed the leaking faucet for the diversion and said it was sending a different plane to carry travelers the rest of the way to Detroit. The original aircraft, an Airbus A321neo, stayed at an O’Hare gate for repairs.
Before the detour, the flight had been expected to reach Detroit around 3:30 that afternoon, local time.
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