Truth about viral video of Air India passengers on 'clogged toilets' flight to Delhi

A video that shows passengers arguing with airline staff has been widely shared on social media with claims that it was filmed on the Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi that was forced to turn back last week due to clogged toilets. However, the video was not filmed on that fateful flight and is actually two months old.

Clogged toilets on Air India flight

An Air India flight (AI126) from Chicago to Delhi spent 10 hours in the air on March 6, before returning to the US city as 8 of its 12 toilets were clogged.

“About an hour and forty-five minutes into the flight, the crew reported some of the lavatories in Business and Economy Class to be unserviceable,” the Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. By the time the aircraft was over the Atlantic Ocean, two-thirds of the toilets had become unusable, “causing discomfort to all on board.”

The airline first described it as a “technical issue” but later said that the lavatories became unusable as people tried to flush down “polythene bags, rags, and clothes”.

The incident led to much backlash, with many calling it an “embarrassment” for the airline.

Truth about viral video

Among those who criticized the incident was an X user who goes by the name Dom Lucre. He was the first to share a video that shows a number of Indian passengers on a plane, apparently arguing with the crew.

Lucre made it sound like the video was filmed on the Air India flight AI126 that was forced to turn back due to clogged toilets. His post received nearly 18 million views and hundreds of comments with racist overtones.

The video was carried by several leading news websites without verification on when it was actually filmed. It also spread like wildfire online, going from X to Reddit and Instagram.

However, a quick Google search shows that the video was not filmed in March 2025 but two months earlier, in January 2025.

Through Google reverse image search, HT.com found that the video was first posted on X on January 6, 2025. It shows the argument that erupted between passengers on an Air India flight from London, purportedly after passengers were told that the flight was cancelled after they had already been sitting inside the aircraft for 7 hours.

In short, an old and unrelated video was shared online with claims that it was filmed on Air India’s now-infamous flight of clogged toilets.

(Also read: Air India faces flak after flight turned back due to clogged toilets: ‘What an embarrassment’)