Passenger smoked in lav
Feb 6, 2019, 9:10 am
#17
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If the aircraft was met by local law enforcement, as it was, this was a domestic flight. I can't think of a UA nonstop to SFO where serving anyone six drinks, even presuming that they were stone cold sober on boarding, is acceptable. Doesn;t matter whether the individual downed six drinks as a PDB or spaced them across a 6-7 hour flight, it calls for a thorough internal review and I am certain that one will occur (although it won't be reported here or anywhere public).
Feb 6, 2019, 9:30 am
#18
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Sfo-ewr would be about 6 hours incl. boarding and is ample time to have a drink per hour incl PDB. People’s tolerance, as well as body weight (i.e. volume of distribution) vary and I can guarantee that 6 drinks in that time would still not make some people’s BAC go over 0.008%. Hence ymmv and no amount of liqour behaves the same in two people.
Feb 6, 2019, 9:49 am
#19
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IMO, this misbehavior is squarely on the smoker, not on the FA.
Feb 6, 2019, 9:59 am
#20
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Feb 6, 2019, 9:59 am
#21
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If the aircraft was met by local law enforcement, as it was, this was a domestic flight. I can't think of a UA nonstop to SFO where serving anyone six drinks, even presuming that they were stone cold sober on boarding, is acceptable. Doesn;t matter whether the individual downed six drinks as a PDB or spaced them across a 6-7 hour flight, it calls for a thorough internal review and I am certain that one will occur (although it won't be reported here or anywhere public).
I don't think 1 drink per hour is unreasonable at all, especially on a PS flight.
Feb 6, 2019, 10:00 am
#22
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In the early days of vape pens I knew people who openly used them in the cabin before the rules quickly changed. But cigarettes, that is crazy stupid.
Feb 6, 2019, 10:17 am
#23
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If the aircraft was met by local law enforcement, as it was, this was a domestic flight. I can't think of a UA nonstop to SFO where serving anyone six drinks, even presuming that they were stone cold sober on boarding, is acceptable. Doesn;t matter whether the individual downed six drinks as a PDB or spaced them across a 6-7 hour flight, it calls for a thorough internal review and I am certain that one will occur (although it won't be reported here or anywhere public).
Feb 6, 2019, 11:00 am
#24
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The last time I was on a flight where someone smoked in the lav was late 2001 or early 2002, JFK - SJU. The FA made an announcement to not do that, and I think that was the only consequence that I'm aware of! It's really not a long flight, and smoking was much more common back then, so I really kind of felt sorry for someone who felt they needed a cigarette that badly.
Feb 6, 2019, 11:01 am
#25
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Feb 6, 2019, 11:36 am
#26
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A standard shot if absorbed immediately, which it is not, would yield to about 0.025 bac in a 150lbs man. However more realistically about 0.01 as the avg male will clear about 0.015 per hour. So 6 shots in one hour would lead to about just above the legal limit. So i’m sure he has seen people drink that.
Feb 6, 2019, 12:12 pm
#27
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A standard shot if absorbed immediately, which it is not, would yield to about 0.025 bac in a 150lbs man. However more realistically about 0.01 as the avg male will clear about 0.015 per hour. So 6 shots in one hour would lead to about just above the legal limit. So i’m sure he has seen people drink that.
That math seems suspect to me.
Feb 6, 2019, 12:20 pm
#28
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So I presume that this happened in F? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that I've never even had the opportunity to order six drinks from an FA in E+. (In F, OTOH, I'm sure I've consumed six glasses of wine. 
)
Yeah, I think it'd come down to a "he said/she said" sorta thing ... and I'd guess that not many would come to the defense of the smoker in this case.
)Yeah, I think it'd come down to a "he said/she said" sorta thing ... and I'd guess that not many would come to the defense of the smoker in this case.
Feb 6, 2019, 12:24 pm
#29
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Regardless, it isn't exactly uncommon for people to have 6 mixed drinks on a transcon or even a midcon, at least in my observations.......
https://dui.drivinglaws.org/drink-table.php
Feb 6, 2019, 12:29 pm
#30
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As this was reported to law enforcement, there will be follow up by UA as well. That will likely lead to some action against the FA.
And if UA wants FAs to never serve one passenger 6 drinks on a flight, which I sincerely hope is a policy they won't adopt.
I had a friend of a friend who bragged about getting away with smoking the lav. Some planes have a venturi effect sink drain, where when you push the drain stopper open it sort of pops and there is the sound of rushing air. He said he would stick his face in the sink, put a towel over his head holding the drain open and vent it overboard that way. While it sounded like a pretty awful experience, it also sounded plausible.
If one believes the amount of alcohol served was excessive, then the FA was not doing their job. (I would not assume such a thing given what we know.)
If the aircraft was met by local law enforcement, as it was, this was a domestic flight. I can't think of a UA nonstop to SFO where serving anyone six drinks, even presuming that they were stone cold sober on boarding, is acceptable. Doesn;t matter whether the individual downed six drinks as a PDB or spaced them across a 6-7 hour flight, it calls for a thorough internal review and I am certain that one will occur (although it won't be reported here or anywhere public).
Challenge Accepted!
Especially a semi-regular drinker whose drinking behavior is sitting in his seat and reading his book.