What really happens when you flush an airplane toilet?

What exactly happens to human waste after it is flushed out an airplane toilet? Does it really fall into the sky with hopes of never landing on anyone?

What really happens when you flush an airplane toilet?
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What really happens when you flush an airplane toilet?

An unnamed man in Windsor had what we imagine being a fairly unlucky day after an airplane flying overhead decided to drop human waste on him and his entire garden.

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Bad time, bad place

The incident was brought to light after councillor for Clewer East, Karen Davis, mentioned it during the Royal Borough Of Windsor and Maidenhead's aviation forum. The man in question was so enraged by the ghastly event that he contacted the councillor to notify her.

Although, he admitted he had no plans to file a formal insurance complaint against the airline, he explained that his entire garden, including umbrellas and the man himself, were left covered in excrement. Councillor Davis said:

Obviously he wasn't going to do that for the sake of a couple of garden umbrellas, in terms of bumping up his premium, so he's just sort of had to take it on the chin.

Before adding

I know a number of incidents happen every year with frozen sewage from planes, but this wasn't frozen and his whole garden was splattered in a very unpleasant way. He was out in the garden at the time, so a really horrible, horrible experience. Hopefully it never happens again to any of our residents.

Is this a common occurrence?

According to aviation experts, this was most likely a fault in the aircraft's plumbing system. As it turns out, poop doesn't actually fall from the sky when you flush out the toilet during a flight.

Since 1982, airplanes have been equipped with sophisticated, deafening pneumatic vacuum systems that essentially suck human waste from the moment it is flushed into giant tanks located at the rear end of airplanes. From there, waste is stored and sealed well away from passengers until the plane touches down, at which point it is eventually drained.

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