cpap on an airplane

I recently flew 9 hrs overnight. There were electrical outlets in my row. I plugged in my cpap and got more sleep than I probably would have - despite the cramped seat. The next morning a fellow passenger asked me how I did it, and he seemed ready to try it on his next overnight flight.

if you did it without the airlines permission there could have been problems

harry33 wrote:if you did it without the airlines permission there could have been problems

A wild guess there were no problems? Really?

The airlines can have a problem if you plug unapproved devices into those outlets; you are supposed to get advance approval to plug a CPAP into an outlet on an airplane. I am not sure what the current situation is regarding the use of CPAPs on a plane if you have your own battery, I have used a CPAP on an airplane using my own battery without a problem; but things may have changed recently.

That said, my question is what are they going to do about it if they don't like your using your CPAP on the plane? My guess is that if they had a problem with it, all they will do is ask you to put the CPAP away.

bearded_two wrote: That said, my question is what are they going to do about it if they don't like your using your CPAP on the plane? My guess is that if they had a problem with it, all they will do is ask you to put the CPAP away.

Yes and if you refused they would have taken it away and landed at the nearest airport and have you escorted off the plane into police custody. This has happened to passengers who refuse to comply with the requests of the flight attendants before. They have the full legal right to do that. Especially as this could have put the plane in danger.

I did ask the flight attendant before I plugged it in, and she said it was ok. She said the only big problems happen when people plug in laptops with run down batteries. I certainly wouldn't want to cause a problem, and with an isle seat, I was pretty obviously using my apap for about 5 hours. I am surprised at the tone of some of the responses because I guess I am too naive to know why there might have been a problem. There was no problem as it turned out, and I will use it next time with permission.

I was surprised as well at the tone of some of these responses. This topic has come up numerous times here, so you might want to do a search for less disparaging thoughts on the subject.

plr66 wrote:I was surprised as well at the tone of some of these responses. This topic has come up numerous times here, so you might want to do a search for less disparaging thoughts on the subject.

More then a year ago the body that governs flight FAC changed the rules about the use of cpap on airplanes. Technically you must have documentation that proves that that particular model has been tested and proved to comply with FAC standards and most have not been tested - it costs a lot of money. So taking your cpap and expecting to use it - especially expecting to plug it in, is asking for big trouble. All you need is a classic United Airlines flight attendant who feels you are there to "make her/his day" and a TSA pat down of the tits will seem like a walk in the park.