A Frontier Airlines flight traveling from Denver to Detroit made an emergency landing at Chicago O'Hare International Airport after a bathroom sink faucet burst and sent water flowing across part of the cabin floor. The pilot declared an emergency, and by the time the leak was contained, water had already soaked into the rear cabin area, forcing the diversion mid-flight.
According to abc7chicago.com, the faucet in the forward lavatory sprung a leak, which caused water to flow along part of the aircraft floor, prompting Wednesday's unusual emergency landing. Passenger footage showed the aircraft aisle covered in water, and video obtained by ABC7 captured what conditions were like on board as the situation unfolded.
The flight was identified differently across outlets: CBS News Chicago reported it as Frontier flight 3655, which left Denver International Airport shortly after 10:15 a.m., while View From the Wing identified the same aircraft as flight 3566. Frontier Airlines said the forward lavatory faucet leak caused water to flow along part of the aircraft floor, according to the New York Post.
Pilot Raised Concerns About Electronics
Per the CBS News Chicago report, the pilot declared an emergency and said the crew was concerned about potential damage to electronics as water spread through the cabin. The pilot reportedly said the leak was spraying water into the cabin before requesting the diversion to Chicago O'Hare via a mayday call to air traffic controllers.
The same account notes that a plumber traveling on the flight was able to shut the water off, but too much water had already leaked into the main cabin by that point, and the diversion proceeded anyway. The plane was parked at gate M40 while maintenance was performed, the station added, and Frontier brought in a replacement aircraft to carry passengers onward to Detroit.
No Injuries Reported, Flight Resumed Hours Later
The plane landed safely and there were no injuries, according to a Frontier Airlines statement cited by abc7chicago.com. The flight was expected to resume later Wednesday on a new plane, the station reported, while the original aircraft was parked for maintenance.
The incident drew comparisons to other lavatory-related aviation scares. View From the Wing noted that the NTSB concluded a Delta Boeing 767 investigation found that leaking water had frozen and limited control over the aircraft's ailerons, a scenario that raised similar worries about system damage. The outlet also pointed to an Alaska Airlines flight from Honolulu to Anchorage that turned back after a sink overflow left passengers wading through two to four inches of standing water.
While the exact flight number remains unclear amid conflicting reports, the core sequence of events — a burst lavatory faucet, a mayday call, and a diversion to O'Hare — has been consistently described across the available accounts. Frontier has not been reported as offering further detail beyond confirming the safe landing and the absence of injuries.
