As if an airline pilot getting stuck in the bathroom during a flight wasn’t funny enough…

I’m half-inclined to believe this is all made up:

He was caught with his pants down.

A pilot who accidentally locked himself in the bathroom of his LaGuardia-bound plane caused a terror scare last night when a helpful passenger with an accent tried to come to his rescue by banging on the cockpit door.

So the captain heads to the head and can’t get out. That’s embarrassing enough as it is, no matter where you are.

Even more embarrassing to finally decide: yep, I better call for help.

And even more embarrassing that the whole world finds out you were stuck in the john, because the guy who hears you calling has a foreign accent, which sets off the co-pilot’s “uh-oh” sensors when he starts banging on the cockpit door for help!

Ground authorities were alerted, as were fighter planes.

But:

The captain finally extricated himself and told his colleagues all was well.

Before that happened fighter planes were alerted, although they were never scrambled.

When an air traffic controller called to check if “there any level of disturbance on the airplane,” the pilot got on and responded “negative.”

“The captain, myself, went back to the lavatory and the door latch broke and I had to fight my way out of it with my body to get the door open ,” he said.

“There is no issue, no threat.”

Phew. Can you imagine? Passenger plane forced down by fighters when pilot accidentally locked in the bathroom?

Even worse: passengers look out the window, see the fighters right off the wing. Fighter escort? What the hell!

Like Bill Cosby said: first you say it, and then you do it. Half the people on board are going to soil themselves…and they can’t get into the bathroom because the pilot’s stuck in there!

Go read the whole story. Plus there’s audio of the co-pilot talking to ground control at the link. Hat tip Creative Minority Report.