Aircraft can't empty toilet tank mid-air: DGCA

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) There is no way an aircraft can empty toilets mid-air and dump human waste, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told the NGT on Monday.

The DGCA made the statement while asking the green court to stay and review its previous order directing the regulator to ensure that airlines do not dump human waste while in the air.

In October 2016, Lt Gen Satwant Singh Dahiya (retd) complained that the terrace of his house in south Delhi's Vasant Enclave was being repeatedly spattered with excreta falling from aircraft. 

The DGCA on Monday said it was impossible to dump human waste mid-air. 

Following Dahiya's plea, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) also asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to examine the sample which confirmed that it was excreta but its source -- bird or human -- was not known.

Later, the NGT directed the DGCA to issue a circular to all airlines operating at the IGI Airport here to ensure that they do not empty toilet tanks mid-air. Airlines found violating the order were to be fined Rs 50,000.

The court also set up an expert committee and sought details by May 23. The committee said there was no system available in the aircraft to dispose waste mid-air.

The DGCA on Monday said that modern day airline toilets are sealed and cannot be emptied during flight.

"The aircraft system has three levels of in-built external protection for disposing the waste and under no circumstance release of waste during flight is possible and there has been no such resort ever by the operators," the DGCA plea said. 

It added that the toilet waste can only be disposed of by manual operation on ground.