Aircraft's Lavatory Waste Disposed On Ground, Not In Air: Centre

There is no switch or system available in aircraft to dispose the lavatory waste during flight and it can only be dispensed off on ground during its servicing, the government said on Tuesday. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed Rajya Sabha that the government has taken note of the menace of human waste excreta being splattered on houses/residences/ colonies near airports by aircraft while landing across the country.

National Green Tribunal, in a ruling last year, had slapped a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the airline, as environmental compensation, whose aircraft emptied toilet tanks on air.

"There is no switch or system available in the aircraft to dispose the lavatory waste in flight. the lavatory waste can only be dispensed off on ground during its servicing. Further the aircraft system has three levels of in-built external protection to prevent inadvertent disposal of the soil waste during the flight," Mr Sinha said in his written reply in Rajya Sabha.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar had passed a slew of directions while disposing of a plea of a retired army officer alleging dumping of human excreta by aircraft over residential areas near the IGI Airport.

Normally, the waste in the aircraft tanks are disposed of by ground handling personnel once the plane lands. However, there are cases where lavatory leaks occur in the air.

The tribunal had also asked the DGCA to issue circular to all ground handling services and airlines to ensure that they do not release waste from human waste tanks while landing or anywhere near the terminals of the IGI Airport.