Have you ever wondered why planes have somewhere to dispose of cigarettes when they are banned?
Have you ever wondered why planes still have ashtrays, when smoking is so explicitly banned?
Indeed, aircrafts are now equipped with touch screens and some even have wifi capability.
One may assume that if planes are modernised with these features, the seemingly redundant ashtrays could be removed and yet they still remain.
But it turns out there is a simple and rather obvious explanation.
It turns out there is a simple - and rather obvious - explanation
Reportedly, the ashtrays are still in existence for the passengers who can’t help but ignore the rule and light up in the bathroom.
While smoking during flights is illegal - whether in the bathroom or otherwise - people still need a safe place to put out their cigarette.
After all, having flames on a huge vehicle full of fuel 37,000 feet above the ground is quite hazardous.
The truth has been revealed on Q&A website Quora by a man named Dick Karp.
He wrote: “The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) doesn’t want them to put the cigarette in the waste disposal bin where there is risk that it could start a fire.
“Waste disposal bins on planes have their own sensor and automatic fire extinguisher as an additional form of backup protection.”
Earlier today, news surfaced that a flight attendant deliberately started a fire on a plane in a bid to force the pilot to land.
The aircraft, which was flying from Dallas, Texas, landed without incident and all passengers and crew disembarked safely.