Where does toilet waste go on a plane? This is what happens when you flush on a plane

Certainly one of life's greatest questions.....what happens when you flush the toilet on a plane?
You're 70,000 feet up in the air, so what do airlines do with the waste from over a hundred passengers?

They clearly can't drop it on us as we would have definitely known about it if that happened.

For more than 3 decades, aeroplanes have been using vacuum toilets so that they don't have to carry unneccessary water, which would drastically add to the weight.

According to Gizmodo.com :

"Pressing the flush button opens a valve in the bottom of the bowl, exposing the contents to a pneumatic vacuum.


"That vac sucks the load down the plane's sewer line into a 200-gallon holding tank."

Waste remains in the tank for the duration of the flight and is evacuated by crews upon landing.

How do they ensure pilots don't accidentally drop the waste in mid-air? Clearly there's a latch on the exterior of the plane, so it can only be opened from the outside.



Just try not to think about the fact there's a 200-gallon tank of excrement under your feet.