Passenger smoked in lav
Feb 10, 2019, 3:57 am
#61
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Posts: 1,530
Including PDB, I've definitely had 6 drinks served by an FA on a domestic flight, especially when you think about refills of wine. PDB, first drink with nuts plus a refill, probably 2 glasses of wine, you're already up to five. Assuming after dinner or lunch service there's a break, you could easily then have a couple more later on. Yes, I may drink too much for my own good, but I've never caused an incident.
I don't think 1 drink per hour is unreasonable at all, especially on a PS flight.
I don't think 1 drink per hour is unreasonable at all, especially on a PS flight.
Feb 10, 2019, 10:58 am
#62
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: CVG
Programs: Delta - PM / MM, UA 1K Starwood-Gold
Posts: 451
I am a smoker and a drinker, but I have never smoked on a plane. Most of my flights are ULH to Asia or TATL.
But I have experienced pilots on inter-China flights smoking in the cockpit. Those are two hour flights....heck, even I can last that long without a Nicorette
But I have experienced pilots on inter-China flights smoking in the cockpit. Those are two hour flights....heck, even I can last that long without a Nicorette
Feb 10, 2019, 11:15 am
#63
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
I always wonder why the airlines don't point out where the ashtrays are located on the airplane. Sure they want to discourage people from smoking, but I suspect if someone's got a lit cigarette in the washroom it's better they chuck it in the ashtray than in a waste receptacle! I'd be curious to learn how many fires are caused by smokers not putting out their cigarettes properly.
Safe Travels,
James
Safe Travels,
James
Feb 10, 2019, 1:28 pm
#64
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
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I guess the OP does not regularly fly long transoceanic flights to certain Asian or Middle Eastern countries. I would estimate that to certain countries, on one in ten flights I hear an announcement that goes something like, "We know that someone has been smoking in the Right rear lavatory, this is a Federal Offense and the perpetrator is liable to a fine up to $XXX and or Y years in prison" or some other such warning. A decade ago it was maybe one in 4 flights.
Feb 11, 2019, 7:52 am
#65
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: CMH, CLE, CAK
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Posts: 204
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.
Feb 11, 2019, 8:40 am
#66
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
Not excusing the practice but do realize these people have a serious addiction. If people attacked heroin addicts the same way smokers are attacked they would be called insensitive!
Safe Travels,
James
Feb 11, 2019, 12:39 pm
#67
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Sydney Australia
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Posts: 14,222
He may has disabled or destroyed the smoke detector in the lavatory. That's a safety hazard. It's also a potential safety hazard for someone to dispose of a lighted/used cigarette in the lavatory trash basket. I'm surprised that the FA didn't take additional steps during the flight, such as wetting or inspecting everything in the lavatory' trash basket and possibly closing the lavatory to passenger use since it might not have had a functioning smoke detector.
Once I was on a flight where someone started to smoke in the lavatory and several FAs came running with fire extinguishers.
Once I was on a flight where someone started to smoke in the lavatory and several FAs came running with fire extinguishers.
Feb 11, 2019, 1:34 pm
#68
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 44
I was on a AA flight from PHX-SFO a couple of months ago on a rock bottom fare so I ended up in the last row of coach, against the galley. After one passenger used the lav, the FAs were talking about how the smoke detector was triggered in the lav and made note of the passenger and checked for smoke. It didn't smell of smoke. Not long after, the same passenger returned to the lav and again the detector went off. Nothing was ever said to the passenger until we landed at SFO, when they instructed passengers to stay seated. Police came on the plane and escorted the passenger and his girlfriend off. At the gate there were 3-4 bike police making a report with the passenger. The passenger seemed quite surprised he got caught vaping and was strongly denying any wrongdoing. One FA was there with the police explaining that this was the crew's third leg on that plane that day, and the first time the smoke detector had gone off.
It was interesting to see how serious it was being taken by everyone involved, a lot like the op's story.
It was interesting to see how serious it was being taken by everyone involved, a lot like the op's story.
Feb 11, 2019, 2:52 pm
#69
Join Date: Jan 2019
Programs: DL, UA
Posts: 60
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).
It probably was, but just because the flight was met by local law enforcement does not, in and of itself, process that. The little cal police are already in the airport with full authority to board the plane and detain a passenger. Other than Customs/BP/ICE, the feds don’t routinely have any agents stationed at airports. One may be near by or not, but using local or airport police is the go to action.
Feb 11, 2019, 3:15 pm
#70
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Boston MA
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Posts: 529
Well FLYMSY, I stand by what I have said, you stated that it was your first time ever seeing something like this. If you were flying 10+ hour flights like I mentioned quite frequently and for years, you, like many FT'ers would have seen this before roughly at the averages that I stated. Many other FT'ers have attested to this over the years. But I guess we all have a different idea of what frequency is which is why I said, 1 out of X and 1 out of Y flights to these places. But what do I know, I am only basing this on my accounts average exactly 37 10+hour segments per year, every year for the last 25 years (although only about the last 20 really count, because up until the millenium there were still a decent amount of airlines that had some sort of smoking especially on very long flights), and I also would not count the time until 9/11 because there would be warnings on almost every long haul flight that I was on until after 9/11, it then did go down to nothing for a couple of years, and I would say it started going up a bit in 2009 or so.
I have spent the last 15 years traveling between 10 and 16 times per year, all TATL and TPAC (and lately pretty much exclusively TPAC). Never got a whiff of someone smoking.
Now, in China or on Asian flights to and from China, that is quite something else. I got that displeasure multiple times, and in these cases I suspect the smoking occurred in the cockpit itself. I mean, we are still ascending, the belt sign is on, no one seem to have bolted for the bathroom, and suddenly you smell the bad stuff oozing across the entire cabin. When confronted, the FA told me that something might have burned during takeoff in the machinery. Yeah, right. If it were you would be behaving a bit more panicked!
Feb 11, 2019, 3:58 pm
#71
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,345
Firstly, pilots legally can smoke in the cockpit on any airline in the World. They might be fired by their airline if it is against that airlines rules, but they face no legal sanction for doing so............because it is actually legal.
So you think that pax only light up when going to China from Asian countries? They often try it on from anywhere, in the case of China specifically when flying TO China as they feel that the chances of anything being done to them is low. BTW, I was not referring to smelling smoke, I am referring to announcements by the crew, I would say that I have actually smelled smoke once per 20 warnings that I have heard. Tokyo flights used to be bad, but I have not heard a warning in a long time, sometimes still do to/fr Korea. TATL Moscow, Istanbul and Casablanca are big ones, but I have heard warnings into London, Madrid, Frankfurt and Lisbon that I can recall off the top of my head.
So you think that pax only light up when going to China from Asian countries? They often try it on from anywhere, in the case of China specifically when flying TO China as they feel that the chances of anything being done to them is low. BTW, I was not referring to smelling smoke, I am referring to announcements by the crew, I would say that I have actually smelled smoke once per 20 warnings that I have heard. Tokyo flights used to be bad, but I have not heard a warning in a long time, sometimes still do to/fr Korea. TATL Moscow, Istanbul and Casablanca are big ones, but I have heard warnings into London, Madrid, Frankfurt and Lisbon that I can recall off the top of my head.
Feb 12, 2019, 5:50 am
#73
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: BAEC silver
Posts: 464
4 or 5 years ago a friend was travelling back from the Far East on Qatar, he was actually a guest of Qatar Airlines. He didn’t realise than puffing on an e-cigarette was against the rules, he wasn’t concentrating on the safety vides, and was abmonished by the FA. He thought no more if it until the flight was met by the police in Qatar and he spent 24 hours in jail and was fined in court.
Expensive lesson.
Expensive lesson.
Feb 12, 2019, 5:52 am
#74
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 16
It's kind of pathetic, really, how weak and addicted smokers are. They're willing to risk arrest and fines just to stick a smoke delivery device into their mouths and light a fire inches from their noses, in a place where smoking is not permitted and they'll likely be found out and penalized.
Before anyone goes off on me, I confess I was once one of those addicted weaklings. I remember one evening years ago as if it were last week. I was 20 and dying for a smoke, but was clean out. So, at 10:30 pm or so, I figure there's one place where I might be able to buy a pack. I rouse my [non-smoker] boyfriend and ask him to please drive me to the tavern down the road so I can buy a pack from the vending machine inside. He points out that I wouldn't go into that place even in daytime and that it's a biker hangout and notorious for unsavory goings on. There have been police raids. I don't care, I need a smoke. He says "I'll drive you, but I'm waiting outside and not going inside. Neither of us should go there". My addiction made me put aside all good sense and we drove to the tavern. As we pulled up, a number of rough looking people were hanging out in the parking lot. Within seconds of pulling in, the cat calls and sexist comments started. My boyfriend just said to me, "please don't" as my hand was on the door handle. I had a moment of clarity as one guy slapped on the car window and I realized the danger I was putting myself in because I was addicted to cigarettes. I agreed we should leave. I quit smoking for good about a month later. It wasn't easy, but it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I didn't blame my boyfriend [now my husband of many years]. He was trying to help me see myself.
Maybe more smokers need their moments of clarity. And being arrested on an airplane, may do that for them.
Before anyone goes off on me, I confess I was once one of those addicted weaklings. I remember one evening years ago as if it were last week. I was 20 and dying for a smoke, but was clean out. So, at 10:30 pm or so, I figure there's one place where I might be able to buy a pack. I rouse my [non-smoker] boyfriend and ask him to please drive me to the tavern down the road so I can buy a pack from the vending machine inside. He points out that I wouldn't go into that place even in daytime and that it's a biker hangout and notorious for unsavory goings on. There have been police raids. I don't care, I need a smoke. He says "I'll drive you, but I'm waiting outside and not going inside. Neither of us should go there". My addiction made me put aside all good sense and we drove to the tavern. As we pulled up, a number of rough looking people were hanging out in the parking lot. Within seconds of pulling in, the cat calls and sexist comments started. My boyfriend just said to me, "please don't" as my hand was on the door handle. I had a moment of clarity as one guy slapped on the car window and I realized the danger I was putting myself in because I was addicted to cigarettes. I agreed we should leave. I quit smoking for good about a month later. It wasn't easy, but it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I didn't blame my boyfriend [now my husband of many years]. He was trying to help me see myself.
Maybe more smokers need their moments of clarity. And being arrested on an airplane, may do that for them.
Feb 12, 2019, 5:58 am
#75
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ATL
Programs: British Airways Silver, Lufthansa Senator, Delta Million Miler
Posts: 9
What is “a guest of Qatar”? Honestly, if they throw their “guests” in jail for something like this I do not want their hospitality. Yes, this was not a good situation but a simple, “Sir/Madam, please put away your eCigarette - even these types of cigarettes are not allowed.’ It’s no like this guest went in the lavatory and lit up a real one.