Pax lav use before takeoff...

[PGT]

so today a plane was cleared onto the runway when the captain goes "you won't believe this, someone just jumped into the lav"

do people not realize that it's not the perfect time to use the lav?

Has that ever happened to you?

and how do you deal with it if they have been in for a few min?

[EDUC8-or]

Originally Posted by PGT

so today a plane was cleared onto the runway when the captain goes "you won't believe this, someone just jumped into the lav"

do people not realize that it's not the perfect time to use the lav?

Has that ever happened to you,

and how do you deal with it if they have been in for a few min?

If you gotta go, you gotta go, just hopefully not right when we're cleared onto the runway. Usually the FA will knock on the door and if that doesn't work you make a PA saying something like: "Whoever is in the restroom, if it's a deuce please yell at the FA through the door so we can tell ATC and taxi clear."

[phoenix 23684]

I agree that when you have to go you have to go, however I wonder on people's intelligence, I see people go to the lav not even 4 minutes after boarding and only for number 1. Why would you use such a tiny lav when you have a nice big restroom right next to the gate

And yes, to answer the original post it was happened to us in the taxi.

[OldTownPilot]

As seen on a license plate: PB4UGO

[brett529]

Originally Posted by EDUC8-or

Usually the FA will knock on the door and if that doesn't work you make a PA saying something like: "Whoever is in the restroom, if it's a deuce please yell at the FA through the door so we can tell ATC and taxi clear."

I would love to see the look on a passengers face as he walked out of the lav after that!!!

[JA Yawd Bwoy]

Originally Posted by brett529

I would love to see the look on a passengers face as he walked out of the lav after that!!!

Expecially on a large jet

[tonyw]

I remember someone was in the lav doing her business on a flight into DCA. I forget how long the time limit was, but we could not proceed in to DCA until she finished her business and got back to her seat.

What if she was constipated?

Do they still have that rule? I don't even remember.

[Maurus]

I thought the FAs were supposed to lock the lav once the aircraft is ready to taxi. At least that is what the FAs on my last United flight seemed to do.

[Kristie]

Originally Posted by phoenix 23684

I agree that when you have to go you have to go, however I wonder on people's intelligence, I see people go to the lav not even 4 minutes after boarding and only for number 1. Why would you use such a tiny lav when you have a nice big restroom right next to the gate

And yes, to answer the original post it was happened to us in the taxi.

I do that sometimes....and it's typically because it could EASILY be an hour or longer before the seatbelt sign is turned off or weathers cleared and the pax are able to move around.

there have been, unfortunately, a few times where i had to ask the FA if i could go..some would tell me "you're at your own risk" and others would simply tell me "no". i'd sit there silently for who knows how long and learned from those experiences to use it when you can.

and a lot of times, there is NO restroom right next to the gate... like in Cincy & JFK, it can take 5 minutes to walk down to the nearest restroom depending on where in the terminal you are.

word to the wise, if you don't want people using the restroom right before takeoff or during taxi or what not, help the pax out and turn off the seatbelt sign as soon as the plane passes 10,000 ft (weather dependent).

[Screaming_Emu]

I dunno, but I had to do the walk of shame for the first time on Monday. At least there's a lav in the front of the 700 so you don't have to walk past everybody.

[ASpilot2be]

I dont know about the bathroom thing, but I cant figure out why people get up and go to the bathroom when the seatbelt sign is still on, or even get up to get stuff out of the overhead bins.

[blee256]

Originally Posted by Screaming_Emu

I dunno, but I had to do the walk of shame for the first time on Monday. At least there's a lav in the front of the 700 so you don't have to walk past everybody.

I have yet to see a lav in the front of a -700! I've been on a Mesa and a Skywest -7 and both only had 1 lav in the rear.

[DZERO]

Simple explanation. People are idiots and think that rules do not apply to them. I mean come on...they paid $120.00 to go round trip MIA to LAX....no stupid sign is gonna tell them they can't take a leak if they have to. Sheesh airports are littered with bathrooms. Why in the world would they actually use it PRIOR to boarding??? Oh and I guarantee you they will be the first one with a lawyer trying to get as much as they can out of an airline when they bruise their knee during turbulence WITH the seatbelt sign on. Sorry, rant over.....can you tell it was a bad wx day in ATL and I have been dealing with the flying public all day? I need another beverage.

[Screaming_Emu]

Originally Posted by blee256

I have yet to see a lav in the front of a -700! I've been on a Mesa and a Skywest -7 and both only had 1 lav in the rear.

Ours must be super awesome then...or I was peeing on a passenger and didn't know it :-P

[Qgar]

Originally Posted by ASpilot2be

I dont know about the bathroom thing, but I cant figure out why people get up and go to the bathroom when the seatbelt sign is still on, or even get up to get stuff out of the overhead bins.

Good point about the seatbelts, Alec. the other day, we had a woman who asked for the seat belt extender since she was pregnant. I couldn't even tell--she couldn't have been more than 5 months preggo. OK...then she asks the other FA to change her seat since the vibration was bothering her. the other FA asked what she should tell her. Since it was a full flight I went over to her and told her that there every seat had some vibration in it. Sheesh. Like it was gonna harm the baby or something. OK, I figure, she's just one of those women who thinks she's the first and last woman to ever carry a fetus in her uterus.
Get this---she was standing up in the aisle and when the seat belt sign came back on mid-flight due to some turbulence, she looks at it, hears my announcement AND CONTINUES TO STAND!!! I give her a minute to figure it out but NOOOOO, so I have to go over to her and ask her nicely to have a seat. Yeah, she was real worried about her baby....
Honest to God, sometimes people are soo hard to deal with.

AND, I've about had it with yahoos who release their seatbelts the minute the wheels touch the runway. Like that's going to get them to the gate any faster. I make an announcement, the other FA makes her arrival announcement and I usually have to say it a 3rd time. Sometimes I have to risk my safety and get out of my jumpseat allll the way in the back to go over to them to have them buckle up. We've made a couple of short stops along the taxiiway and if anyone was unbuckled they would have been injured.

Back to the original point about pax using the lav the minute they get on the plane. the second I see them walking to the back after they've already found their seat and stored their carry-ons, I know they're looking for the lav. Imagine their surprise when I tell them they passed it on the way in since it's in the front on the Q! I often wonder why they couldn't use the one near the gate as they're sitting waiting to board myself.

I swear, being a FA is sooo much like dealing with the children at the preschool where I sub. Honestly! Except that the kids usually listen to me.

OK, rant over for me!!!!

[tonyw]

That's the one I'll never understand.

Ain't nobody getting off the airplane until it gets to the gate and the jetway's docked!

[mpenguin1]

Maybe it is time to treat the passengers like children:

Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to XYZ airline, since this is a long flight, we encourage everybody to go to the bathroom before boarding.

I very rarely go to the bathroom on any flight, not sure how I did, but, I flew from California to London & did not go to the bathroom.

Of course when I got to Heathrow, I urinated like a race horse

[BobDDuck]

Originally Posted by blee256

I have yet to see a lav in the front of a -700! I've been on a Mesa and a Skywest -7 and both only had 1 lav in the rear.

CRJ700 - Just aft lav
CRJ701 - Forward and aft lav
CRJ705 - 900 body + 1st class seats

[ricecakecm]

Originally Posted by ASpilot2be

I dont know about the bathroom thing, but I cant figure out why people get up and go to the bathroom when the seatbelt sign is still on, or even get up to get stuff out of the overhead bins.

You should see it on corporate planes. There's times where I've been less than 500 AGL and a passenger comes up and taps me on the shoulder "Where's the bottle opener?". Seatbelt sign is on, I'm obviously busy, but they want to open their bottle of wine.

[HOTDOG]

Originally Posted by EDUC8-or

If you gotta go, you gotta go, just hopefully not right when we're cleared onto the runway. Usually the FA will knock on the door and if that doesn't work you make a PA saying something like: "Whoever is in the restroom, if it's a deuce please yell at the FA through the door so we can tell ATC and taxi clear."

That is genius

[CaptainCrickettMan]

Tell ya what, if one of the pilots ate bad Mexican the night before I'd bet my last meal that they wouldn't hesitate to jump into the lav during taxi and splash a few into the deep blue sludge. There is actually an FAR that protects us pilots from such situations. It allows us to leave our station to tend to physiological needs. I think it's 91.105 (a) (1)

[MattB]

Has happend to me TWICE in the last 10 days in CLT. FA pages up, 'ummm someone just got up and went to the lav.' Both times less than number 4 for take off.

[moxiepilot]

Originally Posted by ricecakecm

You should see it on corporate planes. There's times where I've been less than 500 AGL and a passenger comes up and taps me on the shoulder "Where's the bottle opener?". Seatbelt sign is on, I'm obviously busy, but they want to open their bottle of wine.

Thought you had to have a partition between the cockpit and the beverage area. Am I misremembering the regs?

[GalaxyIFE]

Yeah...nothing like having to tell command post at your arrival point that we took off late because a crewmember had to "tend to needs"...it cracks me up.

One of the things I don't like about the thought of doing 135 freight: the lack of facilities. It's kinda like "mental security"...if you have it available, you never use it. If it ain't there...then it's just a matter of time before the horse dealer comes a-calling!!!

[ASpilot2be]

Originally Posted by mpenguin1

I very rarely go to the bathroom on any flight, not sure how I did, but, I flew from California to London & did not go to the bathroom.

Of course when I got to Heathrow, I urinated like a race horse

I flew from Whitehorse to Fairbanks to Frankfurt without using the bathroom.