Pilots fly low in toilet air scare

FRENCH airline pilots have been told by their union they shouldn’t fly above 25,000ft because there is a risk to passengers or crew using the toilet.

Security services and the US Federal Aviation Administration had advised airlines to remove oxygen supplies from toilets as they could be used by terrorists to make a bomb.

The Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL) said this put passengers in danger if there was any sudden loss of pressure. Without oxygen during depressurisation, passengers or crew using the toilet could pass out or even die.

The SNPL said that, at the normal cruising height of 40,000ft, a person would black out in five seconds and it would take between four and 10 minutes for the plane to descend to where there was breathable air – at 14,000ft.

Union spokesman Louis Jobard said that, if one pilot was using the toilet at the time, the remaining pilot would have to deal with the emergency alone.

The SNPL asked why airlines had not simply moved the oxygen generator outside the toilets and advised pilots to fly below 25,000ft.

However, flying at that height uses twice as much fuel as flying at 40,000ft and clogs up airspace.

Airline industry analysts say that, with high fuel prices, the survival of some airlines could be threatened by the pilots’ union plan.

There have been 19 sudden decompression incidents on European planes in the past eight months and in 2007 one cabin crew had to use toilet oxygen after problems with its cabin systems.