This was published 1 year ago
Tel Aviv, Israel: Passenger smokes cigarette on board El Al plane, sets bathroom alight
By Alan Granville
Australia was one of the first countries to ban smoking on domestic air services in 1987.
A passenger who tried to have a sneaky smoke on a flight to Bangkok has accidentally started a blaze in the plane's toilet.
The incident happened on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv, Israel last week.
It appears the passenger couldn't wait for the plane to land so decided to ignore every safety briefing to light up in the toilet.
Unfortunately for the unnamed flyer, the smoke alarm went off. In their panic, it seems they tried to put their cigarette down the rubbish bin and immediately set fire to the tissue and rubbish inside.
The crew reacted straight away and put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, reports the Times of Israel.
The airline confirmed that "a passenger on a flight to Bangkok was caught smoking in the plane's bathroom, and there was a fear of a fire breaking out in the cabin".
"The air crew and the captains took care of the incident immediately and with caution by using the dedicated fire extinguishers."
"The flight continued as scheduled and landed safely at Bangkok Airport."
While the passenger faced no consequences on landing in Thailand as so little damage was done to the plane, they could face legal action once they return to Israel.
Smoking on planes has been banned for decades having caused tragedies in the past. In 1973, 123 passengers died on Varig Flight 820 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to the French capital of Paris after a cigarette was thrown into the toilet rubbish bin, which caught on fire.
Australia was one of the first countries to ban smoking on domestic air services in 1987.
In New Zealand, smoking on domestic air services has been banned since 1990, but was permitted on some international flights right up until November 1997, when journeys to Japan and Korea were added to the list.
Other countries have been slower with the to ban the practice. In Cuba, it wasn't until 2014, while China only stopped in-flight smoking in 2017 and its pilots were still puffing away in 2019. The move led to at least one major incident when an Air China pilot accidentally cut off oxygen to passengers while trying to hide his vaping.
There are still very recent stories of passengers lighting up in their seat, including last year in the US when a woman started smoking after landing, while a drunk flyer on a Jetstar flight in Australia in May had a very expensive vape. He was fined $A4000 for his behaviour on the journey to Hobart.
In 2017, a British man was jailed for nearly 10 years after he started a fire on board a plane when sneaking a cigarette in the toilet.
See also: Smoking or non-smoking? What flying was really like in the '80s
See also: Why do planes still have ashtrays?
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