Airline Lavatories: True or False?

by Willy Volk on

Fascinated by the recent discussions on airline lavatories here on Gadling recently, I thought I’d throw together a little quiz for you, so you could test your knowledge of toilet trivia. All the questions are True or False. Good luck!

1.) A woman on a flight from Scandinavia to the United States had to be pried free by a rescue team after a high-pressure vacuum flush sealed her to the toilet seat of a Boeing 767.

2.) Once inside an airplane lavatory, with the slide-lock shut, the door can not be opened from the cabin.

3.) The first toilets in airplanes were simple buckets.

4.) It is possible to hang yourself in an airplane lavatory.

5.) Last fall, a man tried to blow up a plane by placing an iPod in a lavatory.

6.) Tampering with an airplane lavatory’s smoke detector will result in a higher fine than smoking in an airplane lavatory.

To avoid any problems with accidentally seeing the answers, I decided to insert a short video here. the clip explains how to enjoy an airplane restroom experience more. Watch, learn, then check your answers.

1.) False. ABC explains that it was a case of gossip gone wild, and the Poop Report, in all their poopy wisdom actually tried to get stuck to the seat. It can’t be done.

2.) False. Asia Spirit reports that it is actually very easy to release the lock from outside the lavatory: “On a ‘classic’ toilet door, just insert a key, or a pen, in the slot and move it sideways — the plastic panel is coupled with the latch. On “vacuum” toilet door, with your fingernail lift the cover and slide the exposed latch.”

3.) True. According to Asia Spirit, “The first toilets in airplanes were simple buckets. Information on early flushing systems is not available, however aircraft’s cabin were not pressurized and it was easy to open doors and windows.”

4.) True. “A man hanged himself in an airplane lavatory days after being arrested and accused of driving his car through a dealership showroom and setting a fire that caused almost $1 million in damage, authorities said.”

5.) False. The passenger dropped his iPod in the toilet on accident. When the flight attendants noticed that the toilet wasn’t functioning properly, they called TSA. Panic ensued. Read the kid’s story.

6.) False. “Civil fines for smoking on an airline flight range from $2,200 for smoking in an airplane seat or cabin to $3,300 for smoking in an airplane lavatory. Tampering with a smoke detector installed in an airplane lavatory is punishable by a $2,200 fine. 14 C.F.R. § 121.317(g), (h), (i) (2005); 49 U.S.C.A. § 46301 (2005).“

Korean Airlines Lost and Found

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve always assumed that if you lost something on an airplane, it was gone. It’s not like leaving your wallet in a taxi that you can call a few hours later and possibly recover it. Nope, once you walk out of that airplane, your left-behind goods are already on their way to some exotic location without you.

Some airlines, however, are doing what they can to help reunite you with lost goods. Korean Air, for example, has a Lost and Find section on their website. Simply put in the airport you arrived at and up pops a handful of goods left behind, ranging from handkerchiefs, to cell phones and glasses. Or you can search by categories of lost items. It seems that books and glasses are the most commonly left behind.

Many of the items have been thoughtfully photographed and for a small fee can be mailed back to their rightful owners. I’m not sure how one proves they are the rightful owner of a book or iPod, but you do have to present identification to get the item back. If you were never on a Korean Air flight, I doubt they will turn the goods over.

Check Historical Averages on Airport Security Wait Times

by Justin Glow on

I find it very strange that we haven’t covered this on Gadling before, but the TSA has a feature on their website that allows you to enter in what airport you’re departing from, on what day and time, and it spits out the average and maximum wait time history has shown for each particular concourse and moment. That way you can check before you leave and find out if you should plan on arriving earlier than normal.

Flying soon? Try this out and let us know how accurate it was!

[via more than points]

The Challenges of Designing Comfortable Airplane Seats

by Neil Woodburn on

I keep complaining here at Gadling about the minuscule legroom that airlines provide their coach passengers. This is, of course, a big concern of mine since I am 6’4″. A close second in the seating complaint department, are the seats themselves.

I never really thought about the challenges facing airplane seat manufacturers before. With legroom, it’s a no-brainer: the less legroom, the more seats that can be crammed into the plane. But with seats themselves, the driving force is the challenge of accommodating people of all shapes and sizes.

Beverly Beyette, writing for the LA Times, has put together a cool little article to help inform the complainers amongst us. Did you know, for example, that seats are designed to accommodate a range of sizes between a 4’11” woman and a 6’3″ man? Or that by 2009 all seats will have less padding as airline comply with a FAA regulation beefing up the internal structures of the seat?

The most fascinating part of the article was the fact that seat designers also have to take into consideration that Americans have gained an average of 25 pounds and one inch in height since the 1960s. This also has an impact well beyond the seat itself. Beyette quotes a study by the Journal of Preventive Medicine which discovered that in the year 2000, this extra weight “cost airlines $275 million for 350 million more gallons of fuel.”

The takeaway from this article is simple; until we all become the exact same size, we can continue to expect more discomfort in the future.