What happens to waste flushed down airplane toilets?

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by (120 points)
What happens to the waste whenever I use the lavatory on an aircraft?

1 Answer

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by (1.3k points)
When you flush an airplane toilet, the waste is pulled away by strong suction and stored in a disinfectant-filled holding tank. At the end of the flight, the contents are sucked into a tanker at the airport and disposed of properly. Airplane toilets are not allowed to be emptied into the sky, although accidental leaks sometimes occur.
by (100 points)
I always wondered about the lavatory door trick. Many years ago, my mother was flying LAX to DTW, non stop. About half way, a woman was walking back from first looking for her husband. My mother noticed flight attendants were helping the woman, and trying to get a lavatory door opened. Her husband was in the lavatory, and had died. An announcement asking for a doctor wasn’t successful and the plane started to descend immediately. My mother said anything not secured was flying around the cabin. The flight landed at a smaller airport somewhere in Kansas. Meanwhile, my dad and I were at the airport to pick my mother up. The board kept saying her flight was “delayed” and the gate agents were of no help not giving any information.  My mother said after the flight landed, an ambulance crew boarded through the rear, confirmed the death, and began taking the man off on a stretcher. My mother said his wife must have been in shock because she then decided to go back to her seat. A flight attendant had to tell her she had to accompany her husbands body. Once the flight was airborne again, they were now almost 3 hours late, my dad and I were getting nervous. When the board finally said her flight had landed, we made our way to the gate. I was relieved when I saw my mothers red hair walking through the jet way. When she saw us she was shaking her head and finally told us what had happened. I’ve known 3 flight attendants and none of them ever had a death on one of their flights.
by (100 points)
Another secret (in regards to in death flight) but that was not mentioned in this content is, when a flight attendant passes becomes aware of a inflight death they will say the code word “Jim Wilson.” If you ever hear “Jim Wilson” by flight attendants or “passenger Jim Wilson,” that means a passenger died on flight, but obviously that code is used to not scare or freak out other passengers, and also that not everyone knows that, but another food for thought.
by (100 points)
We had a very sad incident several years ago with a flight originating from PDX in Portland, OR, USA. A group of greyhound breeders tried to airship a number of champion racing hounds to compete on the east coast tracks, and discovered to their horror that the luggage compartment which the airline stowed them in was neither heated or ventilated. The poor animals suffocated or froze to death. All of them, I recall. It’s worth checking whether the aircraft is set up to accommodate live cargo. Some folks will send a caregiver to look after pets that are put in the Economy section.
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