I do love the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, generally. It is a great aircraft with a noticeable improvement in cabin air quality. But there is one thing about it that I simply cannot stand…
That’s the automatic flushers on the toilets.
As I wrote about earlier, I saw far more of the 787 lavatory than I wanted to during my recent 17hr,55min flight to Singapore. It’s no fun to be sick on the ground, but it’s particularly horrific to be sick on an airplane.
Without being any more graphic than necessary, let’s just say that I could not keep any food down. It meant not just vomiting but extended periods sitting on the toilet.
Aggravatingly, the far-too-sensitive automatic flusher decided to flush while I was sitting on the throne no less than two dozen times.
Do you know how annoying it is to be sitting on the toilet and then all of a sudden to feel a rush of air and splash of water? Over and over and over…? How annoying it is to have your toilet seat cover whisked from under you?
At least it took my mind off my horrific stomach pain, but I cannot recall any recent event in which I have been more annoyed.
Irony of ironies, when I was actually done…the toilet did not flush.
Sorry, I could not resist the picture and you cannot see anything inside the bowl.
CONCLUSION
I’ve never met an automatic flush that I like. The ones in airports, lounges, and hotels are often just as bad. Until the technology can be greatly fine-tuned, I just wish Boeing would go back to a button.
I’m sure I would’ve understood the mechanical toilet criticism without the broader context of author’s gastroenterology.
Oh my, what I would give to keep one of those seat covers as a framed souvenir!
Try to look at the positives in life 🙂 My favorite feature that I find on most 787’s I’ve been on is the little tiny ash tray deal in the lav. 2017 and we are still putting ash trays in airplanes. It cracks me up.
I too hate the automatic flush toilets when they don’t work well. Sorry to hear about your “LONG” trip.
The ashtray is there in case someone does smoke, the crew need a safe place to extinguish the cigarette.
I too hate those automatic flushes, can never get them to work when you want them too and then randomly go off when you don’t!
Think on how it startles children trying to learn using the loo independently.
I wonder if airlines can set the sensitivity of the sensor. Literally EVERY 787 I’ve been on (a grand total of 5…small sample size, I know) has been the opposite: I stand there waving at the damned think like a madman and nothing happens. Ultimately I use my wrist to push the button because I can only imagine the germs on that thing. So the whole no-touchy aspect is completely lost.
Voice activated would be hilarious… “siri – flush toilet”
What I hate most about the 787 is … that the cellphone connection cuts off or become extremely slow once you have boarded and have not yet taken off. So much for sending off that last minute email or making one last phone call.
Hi, I dont remember where I read this, but it seems to be something to do with the construction of the plane, which effectively makes it behave like a Faraday cage. Frustrating, plausibly. But I love not having cell access on a plane. 🙂
For those of you familiar with the tubed biscuits that make a small popping sound when you open them. Regardless of how ready I am for it to pop open, the anxiety of that pop regardless of how many times I have done it, causes me to think it’s going to explode in my hands. Airplane toilets cause the same reaction. This toilet would have traumatized me. 2 dozen flushes, please tell me it was broke. Did you report it to the staff?
Could you try blocking the sensor with a piece of TP while you use it, then remove it when you’re done so the sensor triggers the flush? I wonder how well that would work?
My wife carries Post-it sticky notes with her and puts one over the “electronic sensor” to prevent flushing before she’s done. Automatic flushing is one of her pet peeve’s. This hack really works, and she feels she’s beat the system….
I have trauma relating to the sound of airplane toilets, even the manual flushing kind, which is no surprise as the sound peaks at 100 decibels apparently! Not to mention, the small enclosed space provides plenty of opportunities for the sound waves to reflect causing increases in acoustic amplitude. With manual flushing ones I literally get the lavatory door open, hit the button, and mad dash out and shut the door before the loudest “ferrrrkkkkk” (excuse my bad onomatopoeia), but with the automatic ones, there’s probably not a chance to do that!