Malfunctioning bathrooms force return of Air France flight from Brazil

Bathroom woes block Rio-Paris Air France flight

SAO PAULO — Air France says a Rio-to-Paris flight was forced to return to Brazil six hours after taking off because of malfunctioning bathrooms.

The airline says in a statement that Tuesday night’s Flight 443 returned to Rio de Janeiro because of a “technical flaw in some of its bathrooms.” The flight lasts nearly 11 hours.

All 438 passengers were offered a later plane.

On July 10, a bomb threat forced an Air France jet bound for Paris to make an emergency landing in northeastern Brazil. All 405 passengers and 18 crew members were safely evacuated.

Both flights were on the same route as an Air France jet that crashed in June 2009 off Brazil’s northeastern coast, killing all 228 on board.