In a world where we are no longer to smoke on flights, many people find themselves wondering why cigarette ashtrays can still be found on airplanes.
United States air passengers have not been able to smoke since 1988, so of course, there are a lot of jokes being made about the continued presence of ashtrays. Flight attendant Jessica is on hand to give us the skinny.
The reasoning for their continued presence is actually simpler than you might have realized. As Jessica shared on TikTok, “Because, in case someone doesn’t follow the rules, it’s a legal requirement to have a safe place to dispose of cigarettes on-board.”
Yes, they are still required by law to have the ashtrays but that does not mean that you can be using them. Yes, Jessica has heard that joke already.
“Some people be like, ‘There’s an ashtray! It means I can smoke,” she shared in the comments. Not so fast, passengers. “FA here! It is because people will try and break the rules,” said another viewer, backing up the story that Jessica had to offer. “We prefer that they use ashtrays to hide their cigarettes instead of causing a fire hazard by hiding it in a small corner.”
This makes all of the sense in the world to us, now that it has been explained so simply. In case you wondering, the feds are involved in making sure that this rule is followed to the letter. In fact, none other than the United States Federal Aviation Administration has decided to weigh in on this matter.
According to Simple Flying, the FAA said, “[The] requirement for the presence of an ashtray on or near the lavatory door provides a convenient disposal location for cigarettes (or other smoking material) and thereby ensures that there is a place to dispose of such material in the event that the ‘no smoking’ policy is not adhered to.”
We are glad that this rule was made, as passengers were being left in danger.
@jessicaaamot Please don’t try to smoke on board 🥲#aviation #aviationlife #aviationlovers #aviation_ #foryouu #flight #flightmode #didyouknow #explained #aircraft #boeing #airbus #flightattendant #cabincrew @BOEING @Airbus
According to the New York Times, the bans were put into place after an incident in 1973 that took place on Varig Flight 820 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. A careless passenger tossed a cigarette into a toilet rubbish bin and a fire broke out, resulting in a crash landing that killed 123 people.
It’s nice to know the laws are in place to protect us!