Things Could Be Much Worse. Like When Human Waste Falls From the Sky. Indian airlines will now be fined if they drop human waste from planes. Yes, really.
By Nina Zipkin
When it come to flying, passengers have to deal with a number of hidden fees, but a court in India just ruled that airlines would be fined if they committed a particularly unsanitary infraction -- expelling human waste from the on-board bathrooms, while in flight.
You would hope that even if there were no guidelines on the books about this, that not doing it would fall under the umbrella of unwritten rules of common decency such as not pushing your seat all the way back or chatting with someone who is wearing headphones.
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Apparently, waste tanks are dealt with upon landing, but it would appear not to be a perfect system.
A former military officer in Delhi, who claimed that the airlines were dropping waste in residential areas after he found excrement on his house, brought the lawsuit that led to the court ruling.
"If any aircraft is found to be violating such circular or [their] tanks are found empty on landing," the court said, as reported by BBC, "they shall be subjected to environment compensation of 50,000 rupees ($736) per default."
