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Farting on flights, is it OK?

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Is he farting? Source: Pixabay
Is he farting? Source: Pixabay

It can happen to the classiest of us. There you are, ensconced in your seat as you jet off to your destination, be it Cape Town or Copacabana beach, and you've made yourself as comfortable as possible in your letterbox-sized seat.

You've had one of those mini bottles of red wine, eaten your obsessively-packaged plane food and are just settling into watch a movie of which you certainly won't get past the first half-an-hour without nodding off.

Then, thunder strikes. Not the plane, but your bowels. You feel that unmistakable sensation of a large pocket of putrid gas that wants nothing more than to escape your now-clenched buttocks and spread like a smelly, shameful wildfire through the cabin.

What do you do?

Of course, you can try and hold it in, but unless you're taking the lazy route between Joburg and Pretoria your flight is likely to be more than a little too long.

So, what if you give in? Release the "k*k kraken?" Will the sound give you away? Nobody can ignore the rasping tear of a wet one, and are you willing to sit in shame while everyone in your immediate vicinity looks at you in shame and repulsion for the next several hours?

The experts' recommendation is an emphatic yes to airline passengers – but a warning to cockpit crews that breaking wind could distract the pilot and pose a safety risk.

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