Forum: travel.stackexchange.com
Tags: <air-travel><safety><hygiene>
Title: Can you get sucked tight on a plane's toilet?
Question: The sounds of flushing an airplane's toilet can be quite intimidating. When going to the toilet on a plane, I am always a bit cautious of accidental flushing. If so, do you risk being sucked stuck to the toilet due to the suction?

Answers:
sents: text: No, you can't.
text: I know a lot about planes and their systems
text: and I can tell you for sure, some tissues can block the toilet.
text: I am sure your butt is a bit heavier and bigger than some tissues.
text: Also, some planes have a manual handle to control the flush in case it is stuck open.
text: It happens sometime and the only bad side is not sucking people's butts, but the very loud sound.
text: So do not worry, flying is safe for people, that includes their precious butts :)
text: For more details about butts being stuck in planes toilets, please DO NOT watch the Soul Plane movie ;)
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/10051/Nean Der Thal
score: 34
sents: text: As the Mythbusters tried it , there are several reasons why this will not happen:
text: You are not sitting (hopefully) on the bowl itself but on the ring above it.
text: There is a space in between that lets air through and prevents you from being stuck in any sense
text: It's a real challenge to create a perfect seal between your buttocks and your knees.
text: You have to be quite obese to even cover the bowl properly on all sides.
text: closing the gaps created by your buttocks and your knees is even harder.
text: Even if you sit on the bowl directly, and be obese enough to cover the whole bowl AND manage to get a perfect seal, the suction is not strong enough to prevent you from getting up again.
text: So, as others said, it won't happen.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/3778/uncovery
score: 32
sents: text: If you're worried about the difference between cabin air pressure and the lower air pressure outside, don't.
text: Airplane toilets go into a holding tank, which is not at outside pressure.
text: I'd be more worried about some joker coating the seat with superglue...
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/13155/Phil Perry
score: 17
sents: text: Even if you assumed that the suction of the toilet continued indefinitely, you could only get stuck if your body formed a perfect seal against the toilet rim.
text: The three-dimensional profile of a person's backside and thighs has enough indentations to prevent the body of a person of normal proportions from forming such a seal.
text: Someone would have to be significantly overweight to possess sufficient loose flesh to seal all the gaps.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/13160/Erik Kowal
score: 14
sents: text: According to mythbusters, season one: episode 2 the results were, busted.
text: To give a straightforward answer, is it possible to get sucked tight on a plane's toilet?
text: Yes, under the right conditions but considering "if they can even fit in the plane toilet at that size" ~jamie.
text: As others have stated, you would have to cover the whole thing and allow no air to get in or out .
text: Don't worry about it! "
text: Even a hand doesn't get damaged by the pressure.
text: Just gets wet" and "The pressure is for only 2 seconds... because it goes into a reservoir within the plane " according to the expert on the show.
text: Don't even get me started on "
text: can you get sucked out of the plane if a window breaks".
text: note: this is in season 3 episode 2 on netflix if you have it ;)
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/13221/AMDG
score: 4

Summary of the answers:
Even if the suction of the toilet continued indefinitely, you could only get stuck if your body formed a perfect seal around the rim.
You cannot get sucked into a plane's toilet because your body will not form a perfect seal with the rim.