THE US is urging changes in the toilets on passenger jets as part of its measures against terrorism.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) secretly ordered US airlines to remove emergency oxygen supplies from toilets.
They also warned aviation authorities elsewhere, including the EU, to do likewise. But the Department of Transport has refused to say whether it is to happen in Ireland.
The removed US toilet systems are identical to the emergency oxygen system demonstrated in safety briefings where a mask drops down in the event of a decompression of the aircraft.
At high altitudes, atmospheric air lacks sufficient oxygen for survival: should an aircraft’s pressurisation system fail, oxygen starvation can render a person unconscious in a short time and then kill in a few minutes.
Oxygen masks are powered by a small metal flask of chemicals. A tug on the mask creates a tiny explosion, causing the chemicals to produce enough oxygen for 15 minutes’ breathing. The flasks can heat to 250 degrees.
It is feared terrorists may have discovered a way of converting this system into a weapon or a bomb component.
Behind the toilet door they could remove the oxygen-generating flask. At the very least they could use that oxygen to accelerate a fire, it is feared.