Is Vape Smoke Obvious

[pelmet]

This is the second report I have seen in a week due to a passenger vaping. I think the other one was a diversion in flight. I am trying to remember but is it not fairly obvious when smoke was from someone vaping?

C-GEWR, a WestJet Encore De Havilland DHC-8-400 was conducting flight WEN3603 between
Boston/ General Edward Lawrence Logan Intl (KBOS), MA and Toronto/ Lester B. Pearson Intl.
(CYYZ), ON. At the gate after closing main aircraft door, cabin crew heard lavatory alarm going off
and heavy smoke coming from lavatory. Cabin crew closed the lavatory door, flight crew contacted
emergency services and proceeded with a rapid deplanement through forward main cabin door to
the jet bridge gate A1. Passengers were held onto the jet bridge for a period of time before
transferring to the terminal. It was later found that a passenger had vaped in the lavatory before
proceeding to his seat. Aircraft was inspected and subsequently cleared for flight.

[digits_]

Do SOPs even allow you to judge or inspect the smoke? Especially on the ground?

"Smoke alarm went of, but we were behind schedule and it didn't look bad, so we took off anyway"

[‘Bob’]

Doesn’t matter. You’re going to be taught a lesson and made an example of… and the lesson I’ve learned from numerous aircraft fire accidents is that you don’t take chances.

[pelmet]

Ok......mid-Pacific....777....Pax walks out with a cloud of vape smoke and the alarm going off. No smell of real smoke and alarm stops.....too late.....Midway, here we come.

But captain,....it is night time with an 8000 foot runway, no Papi, heavy rain, still way overweight, and a non-precision approach. There are no rooms for our 350 passengers and it will take a day to get a replacement aircraft.

Quiet son, I don't take chances.

[goldeneagle]

Ok......mid-Pacific....777....Pax walks out with a cloud of vape smoke and the alarm going off. No smell of real smoke and alarm stops.....too late.....Midway, here we come.

Continue flying past the first available place to land after you get a fire indication of some type, great plan, worked well for AC 797.

[FL030]

There's no smoke.

'Where there's no smoke...'

[pelmet]

Ok......mid-Pacific....777....Pax walks out with a cloud of vape smoke and the alarm going off. No smell of real smoke and alarm stops.....too late.....Midway, here we come.

Continue flying past the first available place to land after you get a fire indication of some type, great plan, worked well for AC 797.

Didn't realize AC797 had vape smoke that turned to fire.

AC797 had real, obvious smoke from a lavatory after resetting toilet flush motor CB's multiple times.

Vaping isn't even smoke, it is a vapour.

But I can imagine on the 2 hour emergency diversion to Midway where that sweet smelling vapour disappeared long ago continuing.

After all, the smoke detector sounded.

People shouldn’t let the AC797 scenario govern common sense analysis, which could result in increased risk.

[AirFrame]

The smell alone might tell you it's a vape, because nobody seems to want a vape that tastes like a cigarette. But the visual effect is that you see smoke. Do you decide it's not a fire because it smells like cotton candy?

[Rooster69]

Is Vape smoke obvious?

It all depends on who is witnessing or smelling the vape smoke. Most, level headed people won’t yell fire in a crowded movie theatre if they see ‘smoke’ emanating from any individual seated in front of them. Same with a person exiting a lavatory on a plane surrounded by a cloud, who returns to their seat. Pretty obvious on what was going on.

Smoke Vs. vapour.
I have only smelled vapour, second hand. Usually, it has a sweet or fruity flavour added to it, or smells like the devil’s cabbage. The vapour dissipates quickly. Smoke on the other hand, and we aren’t talking cigarette or wood smoke, burns the eyes, burns the lungs. Electrical fires and plastic burning produce smoke that is unmistakably bad.


Some people are spring loaded to assume the worst case, other people investigate.

[Col. Panic]

Comparing doing a rapid deplanement at the gate, vs an oceanic diversion is trying to use a one-size-fits-all approach! In this case I think the crew made a good decision. Had they been en route, there would be a different response.

I had a lav smoke alarm go off in cruise once. An FA investigated, found a pax inside who admitted to being a smoker, but denied having smoked or vaped. The alarm was only on briefly, and there was no further sign of smoke, so we continued to destination. All the FAs monitored closely for any further signs of smoke, and watched the passenger who had been in the lav pretty closely for the rest of the flight.
In case you were wondering, we didn’t die.

[pelmet]

The smell alone might tell you it's a vape, because nobody seems to want a vape that tastes like a cigarette. But the visual effect is that you see smoke. Do you decide it's not a fire because it smells like cotton candy?

Sometimes, it comes out of the ceiling. I have seen the entire aircraft interior enveloped in white fog with visibility worse than these videos(was literally about three feet) after opening the doors in a very hot and humid destination. It was a freighter with a big main deck cargo door and the front Pax door open to outside stairs instead of a bridge.

Smoke detection would not stay off for quite a while. Some of them work on visibility. We did not call the emergency equipment. Just turned up the heat.

Have to use common sense sometimes instead of always thinking what looks like smoke must be fire. Smell is part of the analysis

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