The stuff people flush down airplane toilets

Brent Wells has seen things that most people would pay to forget. But that’s to be expected when your company’s slogan is “We ♥ Airplane Lavatories!”

“It’s a crappy job, all puns intended,” said Wells, president of Iliff Aircraft ATA 38. His company repairs airplane waste and water components, including toilets and pipes that have been clogged and can’t be easily fixed.

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What is doing the clogging? So many incomprehensible items. Airplane toilets are vacuum-powered fixtures that work harder than your at-home version – but they’re still no match for items discarded by the flying public.

Take, for example, an Air India flight last month that was forced to return to Chicago after departing for New Delhi because eight of the plane’s 12 lavatories went out of order. The airline said crew reported some lavatories out of order about an hour and 45 minutes into the flight, and the situation was “causing discomfort to all on board.” Flight-tracking service FlightAware shows that the entire trip lasted about 10 hours.

An investigation into the cause showed that flushed plastic bags, rags and clothes were the culprits.

“The decision to divert was taken entirely in the interest of passenger comfort and safety,” the statement said. Passengers needed hotel accommodations or other flight options.

On other flights, the airline has found blankets, undergarments and diapers, “among other waste,” flushed down toilets.

“We take this opportunity to urge passengers to use lavatories only for the purposes that they are meant for,” the airline’s statement said.

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Clogging culprits

Wells recalled an unopened 5-hour Energy drink bottle that got stock in a flush valve. Same situation with the cap to a wine or liquor bottle. A tub of Carmex lip balm blocked toilet paper and other waste from going where it needed to go.

There have been watches, jewelry, flip phones and kids’ toys. Wells said his company has two large containers of coins that have been fished out of waste tanks. He suspects people have an “oops” moment when something falls into the toilet, followed by a “no way” moment when they consider grabbing the item – to the detriment of the plane’s plumbing system.

Once, a waste tank with a stubborn clog arrived at the company half full. It required a trip to a portable-toilet business nearby for draining. There, workers dug out a baby blanket.

Wells said if he could put a sign in the lavatory of any airline, it would say: “Toilet paper only.”

“You want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem,” he said, adding later: “Don’t flush anything that you know probably shouldn’t be flushed.”

Airlines do commonly post signs telling passengers not to flush trash. United Airlines includes the warnings “Trash it, don’t flush it” and “Clogged toilets delay flights,” with a plea to use the waste bin.

An American Airlines flight to Hawaii made headlines in 2018 when a passenger reported that she was told to urinate in a bag after the toilets became inoperable, according to news reports. A flushed diaper was to blame. A few years earlier, a United Airlines pilot was investigated after flushing bullets during a flight to Germany. More recently, a maintenance issue with a lavatory forced a United flight to return to Frankfurt.

Dan Bubb, an associate professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas who teaches about aviation history, said planes will often divert to avoid a miserable situation when toilets malfunction.

“It’s just a gross situation and that’s why airlines do that,” he said. “They don’t want to make people sick. It’s unsanitary.”

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The ins and outs of airplane toilets

Unlike home toilets, which use more than a gallon of water to flush, plane toilets rely on a vacuum system. After flushing, waste goes through the pipes – which Wells said are 2 to 3 inches in diameter – down to a waste holding tank.

Ramp workers, either employed by the airline or contracted to provide lavatory services, attach a hose to drain the tanks after flights. Abilio Villaverde, president of Transport Workers Union Local 555, which represents Southwest Airlines ramp workers, said sometimes it’s necessary to force extra sanitizing fluid into a clogged system. A flushed diaper is often the cause behind the backup.

“We see some stuff in there, but it’s stuff that will come out with some extra pressure,” he said.

Gary Schaible, president of TWU Local 591, whose members do aircraft maintenance for American Airlines, said mechanics would be called in to address more problematic toilet issues. He said diapers and feminine hygiene products are top offenders. Mechanics also sometimes see the results of passengers putting the end of a toilet paper roll into a tank and flushing to watch it unspool.

Often, workers have to remove the toilet assembly. They may have to take apart the tubing that carries waste to the tank, even where it snakes through the aircraft between the cabin floor and cargo area.

“When there’s problems with that tank, it’s the worst job in the world,” Schaible said.

Sometimes a clog goes unaddressed and people continue to use the toilet, causing the bowl to fill.

“That’s when you see people going out in the spacesuit,” he said.