Plane had to make emergency landing because pilot said 'toilet' but was misunderstood as 'pilots'

The above rare case occurred on TAP Portugal (TAP) flight number TP484 departing from Lisbon (Portugal) to Nice (France).

According to Airlive.net, the pilots of the flight from Lisbon that had a problem with the toilet requested a quick landing in Nice but French air traffic controllers did not understand what the problem was.

Flight TP484

Airlive.net

Specifically, when the plane had reached a stable altitude and had traveled about half of the 2-hour flight, the crew discovered that none of the toilets on the plane were working. As the plane approached French airspace, the crew contacted the Marseille Regional Air Traffic Control Center, then Nice Approach, to request an emergency landing and fly directly to Nice Côte d'Azur airport. The purpose was to reduce flight time to minimize passenger discomfort and avoid hygiene problems on the plane. However, the controllers did not know the reason behind this request.

The recording of the conversation shows that the female pilot repeatedly tried to explain that the plane had a "toilet problem" and needed to make a short landing, but French air traffic controllers repeatedly asked the pilot to explain more clearly.

By the time the conversation became somewhat circular and deadlocked, the pilots tried diplomatically to request a straight route, maintaining high speed until reaching 10,000 feet, while the controller repeatedly asked if they wanted to declare an emergency.

The controllers were then heard talking in French about the matter, mistaking "toilet" for "pilots" and repeatedly asking each other "is the pilot not working or is it an autopilot fault... I don't know". Then one controller continued to ask: "please confirm, is your autopilot system broken?", the pilot replied: "no sir, the autopilot system is working normally, our problem is in the toilet". However, the controller continued: "is your pilot having health problems?"... Until the ATC center issued a warning.

As a safety precaution, Nice Airport was immediately put on alert. The plane landed safely in Nice a few minutes early. The maintenance team later confirmed that there had been a problem with the lavatory system, causing both the front and rear lavatories to be inoperable.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/may-bay-phai-ha-canh-khan-vi-phi-cong-noi-toilet-nhung-bi-hieu-thanh-pilots-185250805084551306.htm