A flight attendant called vapes and e-cigarettes “deadly” items for flying on an airplane. She shared her opinion in a blog on The Sun.
According to an anonymous flight attendant, e-cigarettes are made up of lithium-ion batteries that can catch fire on an airplane. The presence of even one of these items will dramatically increase the risk of a major fire on board and endanger the lives of all passengers, the author said.
“But even if there is no fire, due to the large amount of smoke, passengers may think that a fire has started. And who will blame them for this? I have had flights when passengers saw smoke or steam in the cabin, and they urgently called us. There were cases when people panicked and shouted “FIRE” very loudly in the cabin, when it turned out that someone was trying to quietly vape and failed,” the flight attendant told about her experience.
The flight attendant asked “not to put the crew in a position where you need to calm down the whole cabin full of panicking people, and this is not fun at all,” she was quoted as saying.
Smoke detectors are installed on board in more places than you would expect, and “sometimes they can even be triggered by hairspray,” says the author.
“When this happens, the flight deck will get all the bells and whistles for a fire on board and carry out the appropriate control check, which takes time and energy of the crew and distracts from navigation,” she added.
Also, besides being unsafe, trying to “float” on an airplane is simply disrespectful to others. Electronic cigarettes have a strong odor that can be unpleasant to anyone but the smoker.
“It’s as impolite as listening to music loudly or eating smelly food,” the author of the note noted.
The flight attendant reminded me that the punishment for smoking an electronic cigarette on an airplane would be the same as if you smoked: you could be fined or arrested. If “very lucky,” the violator may also be on the blacklist of passengers and will no longer be able to use the services of the airline.