Do They Have to Refund You if Plane Floods?

Water came rushing from the bathroom walls, flooding the back of the American Airlines plane as passengers scrambled to stand on their seats. For Jay Youmans (@jay.youmans0) and his family, already drained after canceled flights during the 2026 winter storm, the scene was the final insult in a two-and-a-half-day ordeal just to get home to Florida.

In the short clip, Youmans shows water from the toilet pooled around the back of a plane. The plane’s piping had burst prior to takeoff, fortunately.

The caption read: “@American Airlines flight from BDL to PBI yesterday (with a stop in North Carolina). Pipes burst before take off flooding the plane. Leaving me and my family stranded. #winterstorm2025 #americanairlines.”

The Situation

Youmans told MSN that they were attempting to head home from Connecticut to North Palm Beach, Florida, via Charlotte, North Carolina. “It was challenging. We had about six flights that were canceled,” Youmans said. But they found seats for a Monday flight with American Airlines.

“All of a sudden, from behind us, we could hear the water gushing out of the walls. I jumped up. It was coming out of the toilet and from under the sink and the other bathroom directly behind us,” Youmans said.

He said the water soaked the passengers’ bags and feet, but they were evacuated after 15 minutes. Per MSN, Youmans said passengers were told that the “maintenance crew had forgotten to drain the pipes, which then burst in the cold weather.”

Interestingly enough, despite the crew’s possible mistake, they were told they could not get a refund because it was weather-related. “They told us ‘no,’ we can’t get a refund because it was weather-related. But in the meantime, there were other airlines. Breeze (Airways) was taking off. Another American Airlines flight took off while we were on the tarmac,” Youmans said.

MSN reported that they submitted paperwork for a refund, and the TikTok video certainly caught people’s attention. “They should do the right thing: give us our hotel money back and a meal voucher and let us go on with our life,” Youmans said.

The Peanut Gallery Weighs in on Flooded American Airlines Flight

“I just know they were all refunded,” hoped one woman.

“People need to look at the positive,” said another commenter. “Thank God that didn’t happen in air.”

Other people went on about a common practice on many flights. “And that, ladies and gentlemen is why I don’t take my shoes off on a plane,” said one person about the practice. Another person wrote, “And people will still walk in here barefoot after it’s all said and done smh.”

What was wild was that one woman claimed Youmans’ clip was “definitely AI.” A person replied, “AI isn’t quite as good as real life (yet), this is real.”

‘Definitely AI?’: Are We Cooked?

What is interesting is that “definitely AI” arrived in the comments section, even for a situation in which no person would have a reason to make up for attention. This comment is yet another sign of the growing erosion of trust online. The proliferation of AI-edited images has already scrambled people’s minds.

“As we start to worry about AI, it will likely, at least in the short term, undermine our trust default — that is, that we believe communication until we have some reason to disbelieve,” said Jeff Hancock, founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, about this increased erosion. “That’s going to be the big challenge, is that for a while, people are really going to not trust things they see in digital spaces.”

The Passenger Has Rights… Right?

The airline categorized the burst pipe as “weather-related” because the maintenance crew failed to drain pipes before freezing temperatures. However, this easily could be argued as, first, a maintenance failure (controllable), not weather (uncontrollable).

Contrary to popular belief, airlines are not required to compensate passengers beyond refunds when domestic flights are delayed or canceled. There is no word on what Youmans received or whether he had to spend another night in Connecticut.

AllHipHop has reached out to Youmans via TikTok direct message and comment for more information. We reached out to American Airlines via email. We will update this article upon response.

@jay.youmans0 @American Airlines flight from BDL to PBI yesterday (with a stop in North Carolina). Pipes burst before take off flooding the plane. Leaving me and my family stranded. #winterstorm2025 #americanairlines ♬ Down on the Floor (Vox) – Ah2

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