Cathay passengers lucky they had seat belts on when toilet door fell: Hong Kong experts

Passengers on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight were lucky not to have been hit by an unhinged toilet door as they were in their seats with seat belts on when the fixture fell during take-off, according to an engineer who said loose screws were the likely cause .

Engineering experts on Wednesday shared their comments as Hong Kong’s flag carrier investigated the cause of the incident on flight 840 as it took off on a 16-hour journey bound for New York on Monday evening.

“I believe the incident was due to loose screws, which the airline neglected to check,” said Lo Kok-keung, a retired veteran engineer from Polytechnic University.

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“Luckily it happened during take-off when passengers were all seated and no one was near the fallen door.”

The incident came to light after images were posted online showing a female flight attendant in a cabin crew seat on the Airbus A350 with her hand holding down the detached door.

The photos, taken by passengers, were posted with comments saying the incident happened three minutes after take-off.

The pictures show the toilet door had fallen outwards into the aisle where passengers typically wait for their turn to use the lavatory. In one picture, a crew member is seen trying to fix the door.

Lo said the chances of the aluminium-made door falling outward rather than inward were 50-50.

Despite being lightweight, the door was capable of causing harm if it fell on passengers’ heads or torsos, he added.

“If a passenger was using the toilet and the door fell inward, I believe the passenger would suffer both physically and mentally. He or she might feel very awkward and disturbed,” he said.

Darryl Chan Chun-hoi, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers’ aircraft division, said he would not speculate on the accident’s cause, but said he believed the airline would check whether the door had been damaged or poorly maintained.

There was no protocol for handling fixtures falling during take-off, but the priority in such incidents was to keep the cabin safe, which the crew had managed correctly, he said.

Both engineers said there was no need for passengers to worry about the incident, and Chan expressed some concernThanks that the incident might be unnecessarily overblown.

“Anything that breaks is unpleasant to see. But then again, when we use a rental car or go to a hotel or shopping centre, we see many things that need servicing,” he said.

“Because aviation is high profile, the media and social media likes it, and it makes the news.”

More from South China Morning Post:

• Toilet door comes off during 16-hour Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to New York
• Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific launches inquiry after video shows staff member throwing luggage

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