Vaping inflight!

[tiffy68]

Earlier this year I was on a budget airline (not low cost!) with my head in my IPad when I suddenly noticed a cloud of vapour emanating from the passenger seated next to me. When he realised I was looking he quickly waved his hands to dissipate the cloud and turned to speak with his female companion. Knowing he had just retaken his seat from a visit to the rear toilet, could we assume he had been vamping in the WC?
Shortly after this incident his female companion excused herself and used the aft toilets and I took this opportunity to speak with the cabin staff in the aft galley area. I was advised that passengers are permitted to bring e cigarettes on board but not to use them! HOW DO YOU POLICE THAT?
I have since written to the admin authority and the airline, who took an age to respond and when they did it was very much "what is all the fuss about" sort of response.
My question to the professionals on this site is 'How do you control vaping on board an aircraft when clearly the smoke sensors in the toilets do not register the output from an e cigarette?'
I can confirm the 'No smoking' signs were illuminated for the duration of the flight but clearly that does not mean anything to users of e cigarettes!
Are e cigarettes a health risk, I personally am not happy to be around a user, whether it is indoors or outside and I am very upset when a passenger in the next seat decides to do it!!
Any thoughts on this subject?:ugh:

[DaveReidUK]

My question to the professionals on this site is 'How do you control vaping on board an aircraft when clearly the smoke sensors in the toilets do not register the output from an e cigarette?'Are e cigarettes a health risk, I personally am not happy to be around a user, whether it is indoors or outside and I am very upset when a passenger in the next seat decides to do it!!Probably best only to fly on aircraft that have single-seater toilets, then ...

[ExXB]

Some e-cigs are poorly made and the rechargeable batteries can and do explode.

For this reason airlines / regulators do want passengers to carry them on. Better in the cabin where the explosion / fire can be detected and dealt with, than in the hold where it can not.

Doesn't this make you feel safe and comfortable.

The nicotine liquid inside is toxic. A broken e-cig will leak. Anyone exposed to the liquid can become very ill.

Who says the aircraft detectors can't detect e-cig vapour? Older ones cannot but technology does move with the times. There are components of the vapour that can be easily detected in a closed environment like a lavatory.

Yet another example where addicts' habits are more important (to them) than aircraft and passenger safety.

[alserire]

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children.

I can think of ten things when aboard an aircraft far more annoying than someone vaping on a plane.

As for being "very upset" when people in the next seat do it I suggest you take a look at the world we live in and maybe relax a bit.

[Shack37]

Probably best only to fly on aircraft that have single-seater toilets, then ...


Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children.
I can think of ten things when aboard an aircraft far more annoying than
someone vaping on a plane.
As for being "very upset" when people in the next seat do it I suggest you
take a look at the world we live in and maybe relax a bit.



Looks like answers from 1 non smoker and two smokers. The smokers being those who don´t give a toss as long as they get their fix.

[alserire]

Not a smoker. But not someone who gets "very upset" over nothing either.

As for actually writing to an airline over vaping on a plane?

Taking it way too far in my view.

[MrSnuggles]

I don't smoke. Never have, never will.

But the little information I've got about e-cigarettes is that you extinguish them with a button and stuff them in your pocket/bag when you're done. If this is the case then there would be no fire hazard where hot ashes or cigarette butts would be tossed with paper towels in the garbage and eventually might start a fire.

So, from a fire safety aspect, IFF the information I have is correct, I would have no problem with e-cigarettes.

[PAXboy]

Three problems:


Others may not realise that the 'smoke' is not real and take it as smoking being accepted. You might think this a wild guess but we have all travelled regularly on public transport, or been in supermarkets where signs and information is ignored or willfully ignored.
The batteries can be a problem. There are VERY cheap rechargeable units on sale via shops and online. No regulation required. The airlines are cautious about many things that can damage life. I would prefer not to have some cheap battery endanger my life.
If people ignore the rule about using these devices - what other rules of the airline will they all ignore because they don't like them?

Yes, I'm a non-smoker.
Yes, I do understand addiction.
In the time since smoking was banned and before these items were invented - people survived. They used patches and pills and chewing gum.

[Dont Hang Up]

4. There is a certain fashion for customising e-cigarettes to draw more current for a better "hit", with obvious fire risk implications from a botched modification.
5. While smoke may be unpleasant, the smoke particles are at least fairly aseptic. Clouds of microscopic water droplets that have been inhaled deeply in someone's lungs do not seem to be ideal for a flight cabin environment (and, for some reason, many vapers seem compelled to exhale far more ostentatiously then regular smokers - why is that?)

[rsuggitt]

And also... what chemicals are there in the vapour ? There must be something (eg nicotine) otherwise the smokers would not want to inhale it. That being the case, I, as a non-smoker, do not want to be forced to inhale it.

[MrSnuggles]

PAXboy

Thankyou for your information. I realize I wasn't fully educated on the subject, mostly since being a non smoker never made me question it. The batteries would be a concern, yes.

Still, we are allowed to carry our laptops into the cabin.

I'm a bit torn.

[PAXboy]

Thanks MrSnuggles. For the most part, laptop batteries are specified and regulated. Of course, people will buy cheap rip-offs and they put everyone at risk. But, as i see it, ALL vaping batteries are unregulated.

Ultimately, every passenger has signed a contract to obey the instructions of the airline, via the flight and cabin crew. Some of the rules are antiquated and some may seem overly cautious to many (including myself, on occasions) but that is the contract of carriage.