Attention passengers, we are getting ready to lan...crap. That's not the intercom button.

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,256
136

That's got to suck lol.
Yup, that happens. The first ever AD on the 757 was about frozen sewage falling off the plane.

One time when a was working at an airline a had a big wade of waste land about a foot away from me while we were looking at a plane. (Someone flushed in the plane and it blew out the vent.)

There are a few reasons this could happen, but it isn't a normal situation, something is broken for it to happen.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,397
14,794
146
Well...he DID order a fertilizer delivery, he just didn't realize it would be coming via "air mail."
 
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Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,582
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So, is the implication in that story that there is a button in cockpit specifically for the purpose of emptying the sewage tanks? I guess there could be some extreme situation where the loss of the maximum weight of the tanks would make a difference in noticeably increasing lift. Shrug.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,732
13,851
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www.anyf.ca
So, is the implication in that story that there is a button in cockpit specifically for the purpose of emptying the sewage tanks? I guess there could be some extreme situation where the loss of the maximum weight of the tanks would make a difference in noticeably increasing lift. Shrug.

No I don't think there is, it was just a joke. I think there is a cap on the outside of the plane that has to be unscrewed manually to put a hose in then a valve is turned to let her rip. At least I think that's how it works. There is a button to dump fuel though... and that's happened too where they dump right over a school. :eek: In an emergency they may need to do it if they need to land earlier than anticipated and need less weight. Seems like such a horrible thing for the environment though.
 
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Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,585
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So, is the implication in that story that there is a button in cockpit specifically for the purpose of emptying the sewage tanks? I guess there could be some extreme situation where the loss of the maximum weight of the tanks would make a difference in noticeably increasing lift. Shrug.
Pilot: "Oh whoops I really gotta stop hitting that button by accident. So weird it keeps happening over my ex's house."
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,613
11,256
136
So, is the implication in that story that there is a button in cockpit specifically for the purpose of emptying the sewage tanks? I guess there could be some extreme situation where the loss of the maximum weight of the tanks would make a difference in noticeably increasing lift. Shrug.
There is no dump button, there is a valve(s) and a cap that must be ooened from outside of the aircraft.

Generally when something like this happens its on a vacuum lavatory system and the separating filter fails so the raw sewage goes out the exhaust port. This is what happened when I was almost sprayed on the ramp.

Frozen sewage usually happens when the valves/caps slowly leak and freeze in flight.
 
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