Alarming reason pilots are ordered to break wind in front of each other

Dublin Live

14-07-2025

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It's one of those taboo habits that most travellers would agree is just not on.
Farting on a plane is simply wrong for the same reason car wind and lift trumps are 'illegal' - the victim is trapped and cannot escape. Sitting next to another passenger with wind is indeed a very unfortunate event and a rotten start to your holiday or trip. You either have to keep getting up out of your seat to let them go to the toilet every time they need to privately pop off, or you suffer the revolting indignation of breathing the foul air that has blasted out directly from their intestines into your lungs.
However, if you're a pilot rather than a passenger, you will have been told you MUST toot freely while in the cockpit, according to an one Argentine flight attendant. Barbara Bacilieri, also known as Barbie Bac to her almost 2.65milion YouTube million followers, claims pilots are "prohibited" from holding in their gas because the discomfort it causes can distract them from their crucially important role.
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To make matters worse, flatulence is heightened when the plane reaches an altitude of 30,000 feet. "At high altitudes, atmospheric pressure is lower, which increases the volume of internal gases," she explained. "This can cause discomfort and distraction in the cockpit when the pilots should be focused on doing their job, not in pain from being full of gas. That's why it's always recommended that pilots, if they have to, just release them."
Her wild assessment is even backed up by a 2013 study by Danish and British gastroenterologists. Hans Christian Pommergaard, Jakob Burcharth, Anders Fischer, William Thomas and Professor Rosenberg told the New Zealand Medical Journal that holding your farts in may seem preferential but they suggested that for the sake of their health and comfort, passengers and crew should set them free. Not doing so could lead to pain, bloating, indigestion, stress and even nausea, they said. According to the Sydney Morning Herald they concluded: "There is actually only one reasonable solution - just let it go." The medics did recognise that air cabin quality may be diminished for other passengers though.
The gassy dilemma also applied to the cockpit and pilots, the specialists found. "If the pilot restrains a fart, all the drawbacks previously mentioned, including diminished concentration, may affect his abilities to control the airplane. If he lets go of the fart his co-pilot may be affected by its odour, which again reduces safety on board the flight." Barbie Bac also claims the pilots eat different meals - not to see who can produce the biggest back draft but so they don't both suffer another unfortunate bowel incident. "The commander and the copilot choose different meal options. One will choose chicken and the other will choose pasta," she says.
This apparently is to lessen the chances of them both getting food poisoning, which would mean no one would be able to fly the plane - not ideal. "It's almost always the captain who makes the choice, and the copilot is the one who has to accept the alternative," explained Bacilieri, who works for a Spanish budget carrier.
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