Happened on Flight AK892 (28 March 2024, KUL to DMK) Scheduled takeoff was 5:10pm MYT. It was a 2 hr 10 min flight, and the incident happened around 5:30pm in the plane (according to my phone).
I’m a woman. I went to the toilet and locked the door. The person before me was one of the pilots (This detail is important to the story). Initially, I thought the door was locked because when you lock the toilet door in that plane, the light in the toilet brightens up. I wouldn’t be able to see anything otherwise, so I was sure it was locked.
As I was using the toilet, suddenly, a female flight attendant opens the door. But before she opened the door, I heard someone fiddling with the door at first and tried to stop it from opening but I was too slow (this all happened within like 3 seconds). My pants were down and my private area was FULLY exposed when she opened it. When she realised what happened (by seeing me half naked), she screamed and ran. She didnt even close the door properly, if anything, she left it a bit wider in her fit of panic. I had to reach out and pull the door shut again. I saw one or two of the passengers sitting at the front row AND a crew member looking at me while I was exposed, although I’m not sure if they saw me properly/realised I was half naked. The toilet was right in front of the galley and some front row passengers.
So after I quickly pulled the door shut, I was very embarrassed. I tried to keep my cool, finished my business and gathered myself in front of the mirror. At the time, I wasn’t mad at the flight attendant as it was a mistake, but now I realise that in a profession where you have to deal with people and uncertainties all the time, she could’ve handled that better. Firstly, she should’ve knocked!! Second, she should’ve pushed the door shut or covered me, not further expose me to MORE people in her fit of panic. I guess I can’t blame her for being human.
When I was finally ready to exit the toilet, I was bracing myself to walk past all those people to get to my seat, pretending what happened didn’t happen. I felt violated and was still in shock, but I reminded myself that it was a mistake. I was half expecting an immediate apology from the flight attendant the moment I leave the toilet, so I was just bracing myself.
Instead, the moment I opened my door, I was met with a male flight attendant (his nametag says Hafriz) immediately scolding me. I didn’t even get to comprehend what was happening..Hafriz just started shouting at me in front of everyone as if I’m the one at fault. He instantly said “You didn’t lock your door! The light was green!” and I tried to explain myself saying “Yea, but I thought I locked it, from the inside it was red so I thought I locked the door..” but he refused to hear me out and talked over me, saying “No you didnt lock it! The light was green! I locked it for you!” At that point I just wanted to get out of the situation and said “Okay! Okay! I’m not even mad about it.” in an annoyed tone..BUT he was still not done, saying “Yea well I’m just telling you!” as I was already walking away.
All the while he was shouting at me, I could see the female flight attendant behind him doing nothing. She didnt even try to comfort me or apologise after exposing my genitals to herself and others. She only apologised when I was getting off the plane, a whole hour after it all happened. So, I had to sit there in shock, embarrassment and confusion the remainder of my flight while they pretended I was invisible whenever they walked past my seat. They had many chances to apologise, but chose not to. Hafriz could’ve at least apologised on behalf of her if she was too shocked about the situation at the time. I wouldn’t even be writing this if he didnt attack and embarrass me in front of everyone like that, and he never apologised for his behaviour.
But here’s the thing; Before that incident happened, I was already observing the toilet because I didn’t get to relieve myself the first time I entered it due to slight turbulence. So while I was observing the toilet from my seat, I noticed one of the passengers “not locking” their door (The door clicks but the toilet light still stays green outside). I also noticed that RIGHT before I used the toilet, I saw that the toilet light was red. HOWEVER, the pilot who wanted to use it flicked something on the outside side of the door, and the toilet light turned green and the door unlocks. But I don’t know what that means, is the toilet door faulty or does the cabin crew have some sort of master key? Or is it just accessible from the outside regardless if it’s locked or not?
It’s just unfortunate that this happened to me though, I’m not one for confrontation as I’m a timid woman. I felt like crying after it happened but held it in the remainder of the flight. It really felt like Hafriz was trying to bully me into silence by pinning the blame on me so that I don’t report the incident.
What do you guys think?
Edit: I just realised that the timings for when this happened might be off due to timezones..the plane was flying towards Bangkok so it was going back in time (Bangkok is one hour behind KL). Not sure what timezone my phone was following when I was checking the time throughout the flight.
Edit 2: Already complained to MAVCOM and an AA cabin crew manager.
Edit 3: Thanks for all your help! I know the full names of both the flight attendants involved and am talking to a few people who can help me with this issue moving forward.
