{"id":22718477,"date":"2026-09-16T11:14:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-airliners-still-have-ashtrays-far-25-853\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:13:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:13:44","slug":"why-airliners-still-have-ashtrays-far-25-853","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-airliners-still-have-ashtrays-far-25-853\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Airliners Still Have Ashtrays Decades After the Smoking Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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The signs are lit from pushback to gate. Tampering with a lavatory smoke detector will get you arrested.<\/p><p>And yet every airliner rolling off the line at Toulouse or Renton this year has an ashtray fitted to the lavatory door.<\/p><p>This is not an oversight, or a part nobody bothered to delete from the drawings. It is a legal requirement, and an aircraft cannot be certified without it.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#1a1a1a\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>The rule:<\/strong> FAR 25.853(c). If a lavatory is installed, a self-contained removable ashtray must be fitted on or near the entry side of each lavatory door<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Applies:<\/strong> regardless of whether smoking is permitted on the aircraft<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Consequence:<\/strong> Boeing and Airbus cannot obtain airworthiness certification from the FAA or EASA without compliant ashtrays fitted<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Reasoning:<\/strong> harm reduction. The rule assumes somebody will eventually break the smoking ban<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Why not a bin:<\/strong> a waste receptacle full of paper is exactly where a smouldering cigarette starts a fire<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Historical driver:<\/strong> lavatory fires caused by cigarettes discarded into waste bins<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>The worst cases:<\/strong> Varig 820 in 1973 (123 dead) and Air Canada 797 in 1983 (23 dead), both lavatory fires<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Regulation Assumes You Will Break the Law<\/h2><p>Most safety rules are written on the assumption that people follow the other rules. This one is written on the assumption that they will not.<\/p><p>The logic is simple and slightly bleak. Some passengers, on some flights, will lock themselves in a lavatory and light a cigarette. That is a fact about human beings rather than a hypothesis, and no amount of signage changes it. Given that it will happen, the only useful question is what that person does with the cigarette next.<\/p><p>If there is an ashtray, they stub it out and put it somewhere designed to contain a burning object. If there is not, they panic and drop it into the waste bin, which is full of paper towels.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Even with a complete smoking ban, we must account for the possibility that a passenger might light a cigarette. Providing a safe place to extinguish it reduces fire risk.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Senior air safety investigator<\/strong> &mdash; On the continued requirement for lavatory ashtrays<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/sas-dc-8-cabin-interior-smoking-era.jpg\" alt=\"The interior of a Douglas DC-8 cabin during the era when smoking was normal\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">When this photograph was taken, ashtrays in the armrests were unremarkable. The lavatory ashtray outlived every other trace of that era. SAS photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iH_hbVlVMio\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Two Aircraft Are the Reason<\/h2><p>The requirement did not appear because a regulator imagined a risk. It appeared because aircraft burned.<\/p><p>On 11 July 1973, a Varig Boeing 707 on the way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris filled with smoke from a lavatory fire. The crew put the aircraft down in onion fields about five kilometres short of Orly. Relief Captain Antonio Fuzimoto was flying. One hundred and twenty-three people died. Eleven survived.<\/p><p>Ten years later, on 2 June 1983, an Air Canada DC-9 flying Dallas&ndash;Toronto&ndash;Montreal developed a fire in the air around the rear lavatory. It spread between the outer skin and the interior panels, filled the aircraft with toxic smoke and burned through electrical cables, disabling most of the cockpit instruments. The crew diverted to Cincinnati and landed.<\/p><p>Ninety seconds after the doors opened, the heat inside met the fresh oxygen coming through them and the cabin flashed over. Twenty-three of the forty-six people aboard died &mdash; after the aircraft was on the ground, in a survivable landing.<\/p><p>Air Canada 797 is one of the most consequential accidents in aviation history. It produced lavatory smoke detectors, automatic fire extinguishers in lavatory waste bins, fire-blocking seat materials, floor proximity lighting and hard rules on evacuation. The ashtray requirement belongs to the same family of responses.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/modern-airbus-a330-cabin-interior.jpg\" alt=\"The interior of a modern Airbus A330 cabin\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A modern cabin. No smoking anywhere, ashtray on the lavatory door, because the rule survived the behaviour that created it. Photo: Wikimedia Commons \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tFBmx9gTKWY\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oU7AsVbYaTg\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Ashtray Is Not the Only Fossil<\/h2><p>Once you notice this, the cabin fills up with them.<\/p><p>The lavatory smoke detector exists because of Air Canada 797. The waste bin has its own automatic fire extinguisher for the same reason. The little lock on the lavatory door that cabin crew can open from outside is there because a locked door is a problem during a fire. The seat cushions are made from fire-blocking materials specified after the same accident.<\/p><p>All of these are responses to smoking, and all of them have outlived it. The regulations were never rewritten to remove them, because the reasoning behind each one still holds even in a non-smoking cabin. A fire in a lavatory waste bin does not require a cigarette to start it. Lithium batteries will do it perfectly well, and they are now in every second bag.<\/p><p>Which is the actual answer to the question. The ashtray is not a relic of when smoking was allowed. It is part of the machinery built to survive the fires that smoking caused, and that machinery turned out to be useful for fires that smoking did not cause.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;If a lavatory is installed, a self-contained removable ashtray must be installed on or near the entry side of each lavatory door.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 25.853(c)<\/strong> &mdash; Airworthiness standards for transport category aeroplanes<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>So the next time you notice one, it is not an accident of manufacturing. It is a regulator conceding, in writing, that somebody is eventually going to do the thing they have been told not to do &mdash; and making sure the aircraft survives it.<\/p><p><em>Sources: Federal Aviation Regulations Part 25.853(c); Wikipedia (Air Canada Flight 797, Varig Flight 820); Marketplace; Simple Flying.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why do aeroplanes still have ashtrays if smoking is banned?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because FAR 25.853(c) requires one. A self-contained, removable ashtray must be fitted on or near the entry side of each lavatory door regardless of whether smoking is permitted. The rule assumes a passenger may break the ban, and provides a safe place to extinguish a cigarette.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can an aircraft be certified without lavatory ashtrays?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. Manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus cannot obtain airworthiness certification from the FAA or EASA without compliant ashtrays fitted near the lavatory doors, even though smoking is prohibited on the aircraft throughout its service life.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why not just use the lavatory waste bin?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because a waste bin is full of paper towels. A cigarette that is not fully extinguished can smoulder there and start a fire behind a closed door. The ashtray exists specifically to keep burning material out of the bin, which is where the fatal lavatory fires started.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was Air Canada Flight 797?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 that developed an in-flight fire around the rear lavatory on 2 June 1983. It diverted to Cincinnati, but 90 seconds after landing the cabin flashed over when the open doors admitted fresh oxygen. Twenty-three of the 46 people on board died.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What safety rules came from lavatory fires?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Lavatory smoke detectors, automatic fire extinguishers in lavatory waste bins, fire-blocking seat cushion materials, floor proximity emergency lighting and stricter evacuation requirements. The ashtray rule belongs to the same set of responses.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Is it illegal to smoke in an aircraft lavatory?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. Smoking is prohibited on commercial flights, and disabling or tampering with a lavatory smoke detector is a separate and serious offence. The presence of an ashtray is a fire-safety precaution, not permission to smoke.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Are ashtrays still required on new aircraft in 2026?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. The requirement in FAR 25.853(c) has not been withdrawn, so aircraft delivered today are fitted with lavatory ashtrays. The reasoning behind the rule has never stopped applying, since the risk it addresses is a passenger ignoring the ban.\"}}]}<\/script><section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Why do aeroplanes still have ashtrays if smoking is banned?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because FAR 25.853(c) requires one. A self-contained, removable ashtray must be fitted on or near the entry side of each lavatory door regardless of whether smoking is permitted. The rule assumes a passenger may break the ban, and provides a safe place to extinguish a cigarette.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can an aircraft be certified without lavatory ashtrays?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No. Manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus cannot obtain airworthiness certification from the FAA or EASA without compliant ashtrays fitted near the lavatory doors, even though smoking is prohibited on the aircraft throughout its service life.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why not just use the lavatory waste bin?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because a waste bin is full of paper towels. A cigarette that is not fully extinguished can smoulder there and start a fire behind a closed door. The ashtray exists specifically to keep burning material out of the bin, which is where the fatal lavatory fires started.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was Air Canada Flight 797?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 that developed an in-flight fire around the rear lavatory on 2 June 1983. It diverted to Cincinnati, but 90 seconds after landing the cabin flashed over when the open doors admitted fresh oxygen. Twenty-three of the 46 people on board died.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What safety rules came from lavatory fires?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Lavatory smoke detectors, automatic fire extinguishers in lavatory waste bins, fire-blocking seat cushion materials, floor proximity emergency lighting and stricter evacuation requirements. The ashtray rule belongs to the same set of responses.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Is it illegal to smoke in an aircraft lavatory?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Smoking is prohibited on commercial flights, and disabling or tampering with a lavatory smoke detector is a separate and serious offence. The presence of an ashtray is a fire-safety precaution, not permission to smoke.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Are ashtrays still required on new aircraft in 2026?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. The requirement in FAR 25.853(c) has not been withdrawn, so aircraft delivered today are fitted with lavatory ashtrays. The reasoning behind the rule has never stopped applying, since the risk it addresses is a passenger ignoring the ban.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/why-aircraft-windows-have-a-tiny-bleed-hole\/\">Why Aircraft Windows Have a Tiny Bleed Hole<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/malpensa-power-bank-fire-easyjet-a320-evacuation-2026\/\">A Power Bank Fire Empties an easyJet A320 at Malpensa<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/swiss-lx52-power-bank-smoke-diversion-dublin-2026\/\">A Power Bank Diverted This SWISS Atlantic Flight<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/how-black-boxes-survive-everything\/\">How Black Boxes Survive Everything<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story Smoking has been banned on commercial flights for decades. The signs are lit from pushback to gate. Tampering with a lavatory smoke detector will get you arrested. And yet every airliner rolling off the line at Toulouse or Renton this year has an ashtray fitted to the lavatory door. This is not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":22718070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22718477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Airliners Still Have Ashtrays After the Smoking Ban | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Airliner ashtrays are still legally required by FAR 25.853(c). 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