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An airline passenger traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago took to social media to share how the flight crew handled the situation of someone vaping on board.
Posted in the “r/unitedairlines” Reddit forum, the post was titled, “Someone Smoked in the Bathroom.”
“About halfway through, an FA made an announcement reminding us that it’s extremely illegal to smoke or vape on flights,” the user wrote.
“At the end of the flight, the pilot goes: There are 189 of you on this flight. While we make our final descent, please know we are going to be safe and sound, but that could have changed because one person decided to risk the lives of the other 188,” the user also wrote.
The user said the pilot added, “You know who you are and your actions will have consequences.”
Reddit users took to the comments section to share their thoughts about smoking or vaping on planes.
“How do they not know who was vaping? Would it not alarm right [away]? I like the pilot’s statement during the flight,” said one Redditor.
“Some fool vaped in the last row thinking they were being discreet the other day. This was before we left the gate,” another person wrote.
“Lots of smokers have a delusional belief that they can be discreet and no one will notice them smoking/vaping if they take some minimal precautions, like blowing smoke into a can, into a vent or through fabric. LOL,” said a user.
“I’m old so I remember smoking on flights,” said another person. “What was that logic? Like the smoke stayed in the back of the plane where it belonged.”
“Some people are really that addicted to tobacco they can’t last a few hours … even on a short plane ride,” one pointed out.
“Remember back in the ’90s when planes still had ashtrays but you couldn’t smoke anymore,” a user commented.
“A little extreme. Never smoke on a plane!!! But, up until the ’90s half the passengers were smoking on every flight every day,” another Redditor said.
Under the airworthiness standard regulations, planes must have “No Smoking” signs that a member of the flight crew can turn on and off, according to the Federal Register.
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“Lavatories must have ‘No Smoking’ or ‘No Smoking in Lavatory’ placards conspicuously located on or adjacent to each side of the entry door,” the law also states.
It is under the airworthiness standards that smoking on planes is banned.
Fox News Digital reached out to a United Airlines spokesperson for comment. The spokesperson responded, referencing United’s “Dangerous Items” online page.
“The TSA allows: Common lighters in carry-on bags, E-cigarettes and personal vaporizers in a carry-on bag or personal item. We don’t accept: Torch lighters, E-cigarettes, and personal vaporizers in checked or gate-checked bags,” the page states.
Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog “View From the Wing,” told Fox News Digital there’s a stigma against vaping.
“Other passengers might think vapers are smoking a cigarette even though they aren’t,” said Leff.
He added, “You can’t smoke on a plane. You can’t vape, either. The FAA has interpreted the prohibition on cigarette smoking to include vaping products, even though they’re quite different.”
“It’s not about banning vapor. The regulation simply extends the ban on cigarettes to include e-cigarettes, which weren’t contemplated when the law against on-board smoking was passed,” said Leff.
“Planes still have ashtrays even though smoking has been illegal on U.S. aircraft for a quarter-century! You’ll usually find them in or near the lavatory, because customers may smoke even though it’s illegal to do so ,” Leff added.
