smoking in the bathroom?
 

Last night on my BOS-IAD flight, a woman was caught smoking in the bathroom mid-flight. It appeared from my seat that she had tried block the air vent with paper towels, and that the towels had caught on fire, making the situation even worse. I had never seen anyone try to get away with this stupid maneuver, so I am curious to know what happens in this situation. Anyone know?

Hope she got the max fine as indicated on the placards posted in the lavs.

Nice of her to put passengers' lives at risk for her own stupid habit. :rolleyes:

Someone's Seriously Addicted
 

OK, I can see on a transcon or international flight, maybe, but BOS-IAD??? What is it, 400 miles and ~90 minutes!

what was she smokin ? Sounds more like a crack pipe,lighting the paper towels and all

This is a case for floggings. Too bad this wasn't on SQ.

I wrote about a similar incident a couple weeks ago but couldn't find the thread. Almost 10 years ago in the winter time, I was flying ATL-PIT and a snowstorm had things jammed up pretty bad. We entered a holding pattern and someone went into the bathroom and started smoking. They threw their cigarette away in the trash and set the trash on fire. We made an emergency landing, evac'd, etc., just because some dumb*ss couldn't deal with their nic fits.

It happens a whole lot more often than you might think.

She'll be charged the $2000 fine at a minimum but could see higher penalties because she didnt follow crew instructions, she didnt follow the placards and signs and she caused un-necessary risk to the other passengers and crew.

Will UA ban them flying UA again?

No, but they take away all their e500's and SWUs. Glenn Tilton gets to use them. (He lost all of his for smoking crack during the bankruptcy reorganization.)

pretty scary -- hope she receives the max fine.

I vote for jail time. I'll bet her fellow passengers would feel the same.

Sounds like you got in a whole lot faster than if you had stayed in the holding pattern and then waited for a gate after landing.

I hear you get to spend the rest of the flight in the corpse cupboard on SQ if you are naughty.

Since this isn't specific to United, please follow it in Travel Buzz.

l'etoile
UA moderator