If smoking is not allowed on airplanes, why are there still ashtrays on board?

(Image Source: Playback / Sysadmin Standalone)

It has been a while since smoking on flights - whether long or not - is no longer allowed. However, have you ever noticed that on airplanes there are still signs, signs and posters that indicate this ban?

Matt Simmons, who writes for the Standalone Sysadmin blog, not only realized that all these signals are still around, but also realized that all planes still have ashtrays in the bathrooms. What's more, he found that these planes are not remnants of the time when passengers could choose to travel in the smokers 'or nonsmokers' wing.

Smoking is prohibited

According to Simmons, the presence of ashtrays in aircraft toilets is still mandatory, and is a requirement of the FAA, the United States federal civil aviation regulator. He discovered that in 1973, an air disaster killed 123 people due to a cigarette that was where it should not be.

For this reason, believing that smokers will smoke anyway, the FAA has determined that there must be ways for them to properly dispose of their cigarettes to avoid any kind of incident. In other words, the ashtrays and signals distributed - discreetly - across aircraft are there to make our travels safer.

Sources: Standalone Sysadmin, Cornell University School of Law and Gizmodo

* Originally posted 23/05/2012.