Caught smoking
 

On my flight back to YYZ from YVR today, someone apparantely caught smoking in the washroom. This is the first time that I have ever seen this in my whole travel career. The first time "she" set off the alarm in the washroom, the FA made an announcement "This is directed to whoever was smoking in the rear lavatory, please do not do it again as this is a very serious matter". Apparantely, she did it again, the FA took her up to the fron and talk to the Captain. When we arrive at the gate, two cops was waiting for her.

They should have nailed her after the first incident.

Seems this happens on one of my flights once each year, typically transpacific or transatlantic. Some of the FA's have incredible senses of smell when it comes to this! Also, each time I've seen this since initiation of the smoking ban (about 5yrs?), the violator first got a simple/stern warning.

I caught the flight attendants smoking in the galley on a CSA flight from Prague to EWR, decided not to have them arrested, I just wanted another drink.

It cracks me up that people are that dumb. Did they really think that they would not get caught smoking in a bathroom, or an open galley? What dolts. Not that I didn't appreciate hearing this, but I'm sure that it gets better than that http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Anyone forced to land because of stuff like this?

Two months ago I was on a "red eye" from LAS to DTW in 3a. Half way through the flight the guy sitting next to me in 3b went up to go the bathroom. He came back ten minutes later smelling like smoke. Shortly later one of the pilots came out of the cockpit and along with one of the FAs asked to talk to 3b in the galley area. I noticed when I got off the plane there were two Wayne County deputies talking to 3b and the FA. There were no announcements on the PA system or any other warnings given that I know of.

Are there major safety risks involved?

There are some things that would just piss me off. I personally don't smoke, nor do I care if someone opts to, but they can respectfully wait until the plane lands to do it. It's not the biggest deal, but I would imagine that there is some safety risk involved, not to mention any inconvenience brought to the non smoking passengers .

Personally, I have not experienced this problem, but have had to deal with a heart attack on a flight. It's not fun. For all you MD's, Medics and RN's out there, if you think CPR is hard to do on the ground (ie: moving vehicle),try doing it in bad turbulance. Then, you've seen it all.

I experienced a smoker on a flight from IAH-BOS in November. Despite several announcements, they never managed to track down the offender. The first officer and all the flight attendants were walking up and down the aisle (it was only a 737) sniffing; the odor was noticeable to passengers as well even before the crew started looking.

I actually was accused of smoking on a plane (I don't smoke!) by a FA. I was returning from the bathroom and a FA came to my seat and loudly accused me infront of the whole plane of smoking. I was more than a little put off (and embarassed) and denied it. She then came back with a half smoked cigarette from the trash and waved it all over the cabin (and made the whole cabin smell) accusing me of smoking.

I would up offering to let me smell my fingers at which point she realized she went too far. I got her information and reported her to AA corporate (and got a substantial travel voucher).

The lav is probably the only place in the cabin that smoking is dangerous. The seat fabric is flame resistant, but the TP and facial tissue are not. I recall reading somewhere that cigarette butts in the trash in the lav are the most common cause of fire on board commercial aircraft.

For this reason, there are smoke alarms in the lav, and also in the trash bin area. The bin are also has a special fire supression system.

I have to respond to a couple of posts that address smoking as only dangerous at certain times, or in certain parts of the aircraft.

There is flamable material in every part of the cabin. I would not put a lot of faith in flame resistant seat material. When the whip comes down, the metal of the aircraft will burn.

I have logged 5000 hours on DC-10-30CF in the past 14 years (military crewmember). There is no time, or place, in an airborne, pressurized vessel that an open flame and the resultant smoke is anything less than dangerous.

Just because it was tolerated for a number of years does not mean it is anything other than foolhardy and inconsiderate. Throw the book at them; no warning.

About a month ago, flying EWR to LHR on a UA 777, the purser made an announcement about an hour into the flight that someone had been smoking in one of the coach lavs, and if they could figure out who it was, the offender would be arrested upon arrival.

About 10 years ago, a passenger/murderer smoked in the lav of an Air Canada DC-9. The plane caught fire and more than half the passengers died.

I always thought that they banned smoking out of a health concern. I can't believe smoking was allowed all those years when it was also an operational safety concern too.

As for the post regarding the smoking ban on military aircraft, for some reason, the military seams to be a step ahead with in-air safety. For instance, the military has already converted all of their wiring that has been determined to be dangerous; whereas, commercial aircraft are still flying with the dangerous caplon wiring; a documentary that I watched said that commercial aircraft are even more suseptable to wiring chaffing than military fighter jets.

No warning??? On every UA flight I was on last year, the no smoking policy was stated during the pre-flight safety deal. Then (whether it was video or FAs doing the safety deal), the purser announced "Smoking in the lavratory or tampering with or destroying lavratory smoke detectors is a violation of federal law."

Seems like a pretty stern warning to me...

I do have a lot of sympathy for nicotine addicts, but am still pleased by swift and harsh penalties for risking lives to feed that addiction... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

We should ALL insist that anyone caught smoking on an airplane be banned from flying -- FOR LIFE. We need more potential dangers onboard these flight? It is time to get tough with these morons.

Forget about arresting them upon arrival. They ought to turn the smokers over to the passengers on the flight and let them decide what should be done http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I can't imagine wanting to return to your seat after being caught. I'm sure most of the passangers on the plane would have it in for you.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em (the offenders, that is).

In all seriousness, I have not been on a flight in the last eight to ten years that was not announced as 'non-smoking.' And, I have, in that same time period, never seen the 'no smoking/no fumar' light go out indicating to the smokers that it is ok to light up. Do the crime, do the time. I'm glad to hear that the airlines are following through with arresting the offenders after the flight lands.

[This message has been edited by geo1004 (edited 02-02-2000).]

Slightly off topic, I read a little bit ago (within the past year) that Iberia had changed its rules to prohibit the pilots from smoking. Apparently they were still allowed to even though the passengers couldn't (it makes a small amount of sense, but only a small amount!).

Actually, apparently the US rules were only changed for pilots a few years ago - way after the self-loading cargo was forbidden to light up. Can anybody confirm?

Sadly,smoking is still going on among PAX, even on the US-registered airlines. Last summer coming back from Paris to SFO on UA, we were seated in the exit row seats ( lots of leg room but the lavaratories are way too close). The crew, although all United employees, were native French and were based in Paris. The plane had mostly French PAX flying to some convention to the US. If you've ever been to Paris, you should know that smoking for the French is almost a national passtime. EVERYBODY smokes and a LOT. So you can imagine what a tourture the 12-hour flight might have been for them. Sitting by the lavs, we could tell(smell) clearly that there was a lot of smoking going on during the flight. Amazingly, the FA's on the flight chose to ignore it ( comradery and mutual understanding among fellow coutryman?). I have no idea why the alarms did not alert the pilots. Maybe they were French too (the pilots). In hindsight, we should have spoken up about the fresh smell of sigarette smoke coming from the lav everytime the door got open. But what's the point? The FA were smelling it too and were doing nothing! US natives were a clear minority on this flight and I did not want to start a coup and to be thown off the plane by the irrate smokers. Well,may be next time I'll have more guts to speak up or to write United management about what's going on on their planes.

Well I've beenf lying for 10 years and I think the one time I had to deal with cigarette smoking on the U-A flights SFO-HKG-SFO. being in coach (did not know that I could use miles to upgrade!) I suffered miserably.

I'm surprised that the smoke alarms did not go off on those Paris flights. They are everywhere.

Well I've beenf lying for 10 years and I think the one time I had to deal with cigarette smoking on the U-A flights SFO-HKG-SFO. being in coach (did not know that I could use miles to upgrade!) I suffered miserably.

I'm surprised that the smoke alarms did not go off on those Paris flights. They are everywhere.

I smoke, and I don't mind the no-smoking environment on short flights (under 5 hours).

But, it gets a bit frustrating to be on a 9 or 12 hour flight that is non-smoking, especially if it is a daylight flight at a time when one normally does not sleep.

Air France designates one galley (usually at the rear) as the smoking area, this seems to be quite acceptable to everyone.

It is unfortunate that the North American carriers don't do this on their intercontinental flights. I wonder how much of it actually has to do with a desire to inflict someone's will on others (meaning, put down or control others, being politically correct and smug about it) rather than the smoke itself.

Canada seems to be one of the worst offenders in this area - I phoned the Toronto airport authority to suggest that they put a smoking area in the international departures area of terminal 2 (there is such an area in domestic and transboarder), and was smugly told that the two existing areas would be removed ASAP.

Doesn't sound too much like they are making much of an effort to listen to their customers, or meet their needs.

Before the politically correct out there start sending flames back, consider this: small children create as much of an externally imposed disturbance/annoyance/aggravation to their neighbors as smokers - so, the airport authorities usually provide a play area for the small kids, where they won't disturb others. It work well for both parties - the small kids, and the people who don't want to be exposed to the effects of the small kids.

Why not look at the smoking issue that way?

The short answer to Max Power's question RE: small kids vs. smoke disturbance is: small kids' noise can cause at most a migraine, second hand smoke can cause cancer. As long as a large amount of the air in planes and airport buildings gets recirculated, we all get to breathe however much or little poison there is in it.
Additionally, smoking on planes increases the risk of fires (already discussed above), which can be way more lethal than cancer, so...

That said, allow me to say that I understand how frustrating it must be for a serious smoker to be deprived of cigarettes for 9-12 hours. I used to be a smoker in a past life (albeit not a heavy one), so I vaguely recall the craving...

I wish there was an easy solution, but I really can't think of one.

Last time I checked, small children did not increase their neighbors' risk of cancer.

Adding to the list.. SMALL CHILDREN are not the same as cigarettes....

Either way, cigarettes are harmful and dangerous on the airplanes... maybe we should have a shooting range on the plane for addicted gun shooters?? Nahh dangerous.... could cause fire/explosion...

Ok.. going overboard.. sorry

I am a relatively recent non-smoker who is old enough to remember legally smoking in flight. The teensy little ashtray in the armrest, the ashes all over my clothes, burn marks in the upholstery!
The US departure terminal at YVR has a smoking lounge sponsored by Benson and Hedges. Within months of the terminal opening this was a stinking pit, even with the heavy duty exhaust/ventilation (I can testify, I was there puffing away!). By the time I quit I could hardly imagine smoking indoors anywhere anymore.
I suggest Nicorettes for the really long flights. You can buy them without a prescription in Canada now.

i kind of like the gas .. sorry smoking ... chambers that many airports have created for smokers. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif sorry no offense towards smokers. i personally don't have a problem with it as long as they respect the rules - especially safety related rules such as on airplanes.

Re: Second-hand smoke and cancer -

Ask any statistician who actually looked at the results of the studies that allegedly "proved" that second-hand smoke causes cancer, and he/she will tell you it's all a batch of bushwa. (This is not to say that it does or doesn't, only that the studies do not, from a standpoint of statistical validity, establish the link.)

It's (IMHO) more a matter of paternalistic control freaks who know what's "good" for you and have somehow managed to get into a postion of authority sufficient to allow them to inflict their opinions on the rest.

(Now, Counsellor, tell us how you really feel about it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)

As for airports with "hot boxes", as I call them (I guess it has a slightly different connotation, but oh well), STL has to win the prize. I haven't been there in about a year (switched from TW to UA!), but it seemed like they kept shrinking the smoking lounges until they ended up being about 8' x 10' glass rooms that were amazingly putrid with smoke. The worst part was that they had regular doors on them and when it was REALLY crowded, people would hold the door open. You had to hold your breath as you walked down the absurdly long concourse in front of it.