It's Raining Again...inside A 737

aerdingus · Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:57 am

Hi all, just a weird question. In summer 2007 in Ireland it rained for 50 days straight. So I headed for Faro, Portugal! We were on a Futura tombstone

737-800 (N977RY) & it was lashing rain while we were taxiing out for departure from Dublin. I was sitting in row 16, on the left, by the window, and all of a sudden water starts dripping on my head! I was so scared I didnt call the f/a or anything because we were literally just about to take off, I was frozen solid with the fear, & I didn't want to scare my friend, who's a bad flyer. It stopped a while after take off. Could it have been something to do with airconditioning or something? I am by no means an expert, could anybody shed some light? Scariest flying moment for me so far, things like the Helios tragedy (R.I.P) started racing through my mind, obviuosly I was over-reacting, but at the time this was scary as hell!

Thanks,

Kierno

Starlionblue · Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:11 pm

Quoting Aerdingus (Thread starter):
Could it have been something to do with airconditioning or something?

Most likely it was condensation from the air conditioning system yes.

boeing767mech · Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:53 pm

Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 1):

Most likely it was condensation from the air conditioning system yes.

Quoting Aerdingus (Thread starter):
737-800 (N977RY) & it was lashing rain while we were taxiing out for departure from Dublin. I was sitting in row 16, on the left, by the window, and all of a sudden water starts dripping on my head! I was so scared I didnt call the f/a or anything because we were literally just about to take off, I was frozen solid with the fear, & I didn't want to scare my friend, who's a bad flyer. It stopped a while after take off. Could it have been something to do with airconditioning or something?

I have had various airplanes blow snow and ice while taxi up to the gate from the hangar during very humid days.

David

aerdingus · Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:06 pm

[quote=Boeing767mech,reply=2]I have had various airplanes blow snow and ice while taxi up to the gate from the hangar during very humid days. [/q
woah on humid days? thats mad.

ZBBYLW · Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:09 pm

I was on a CP 763 taking off from YVR back when CP was around, a few thousand feet up water started pooring out of the overhead bin across from me. Reason: Someone had one of those water bottles where you can "squeeze" it and this will let the water come out, he put it in the overhead bin, and someone put a really heavy bag on top of it. The guy that got drenched was not to pleased!

tdscanuck · Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:17 pm

Quoting Aerdingus (Thread starter):
I was sitting in row 16, on the left, by the window, and all of a sudden water starts dripping on my head! I was so scared I didnt call the f/a or anything because we were literally just about to take off, I was frozen solid with the fear, & I didn't want to scare my friend, who's a bad flyer. It stopped a while after take off. Could it have been something to do with airconditioning or something?

You frequently get condensation on the inside of the fuselage in cruise due to cabin humidity and outside temperature. Usually, this just collects on the insulation and evaporates on the next cycle. However, if it's really humid or the plane isn't spending long in a condition where it can dry out, the condensation will build up and drip down. When the plane moves, it will disturb the condensation and you get "rain in the plane."

It's nothing to be afraid of; it's normal and harmless.

Tom.

roseflyer · Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:42 pm

The insulation blankets on an airplane collect moisture. On the 737 it is a problem where they will collect moisture and it will drip through and can collect above certain windows. Moisture then can drip through and into the cabin. There are various solutions. It was especially problematic near the over wing exits, so there were drain holes installed in the structure so that water will not drip into the cabin.

It's pretty harmless, but definitely undesirable. You were perfectly safe. It had little to do with the outside conditions, but rather just the moisture in the cabin over years of service collecting in insulation blankets. Hundreds of pounds of water can collect in the cabin insulation of an airplane like a 737 over its lifetime.

Mender · Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:00 pm

You can also get "rain in the plane" if the insulation blankets have been overlapped incorrectly.

Just like the tiles on the roof of your house the should overlap so that the water runs from one blanket onto the next until it collects in the belly of the fuselage where it goes overboard via speacial drains.

If your house tiles have been overlaid the wrong way round the water will seep between the tiles and drip on your head. The same can happen to airplanes if there is a gap between the blankets or they overlap wrongly.

aerdingus · Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:14 pm

Quoting ZBBYLW (Reply 4):
The guy that got drenched was not to pleased!

That's hilarious! poor fella.....

Quoting Roseflyer (Reply 6):
It was especially problematic near the over wing exits,

exactly where I was sitting!

Quoting Mender (Reply 7):
You can also get "rain in the plane" if the insulation blankets have been overlapped incorrectly.

kinda scary.....

Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 5):
It's nothing to be afraid of; it's normal and harmless.

thanks for getting back to me everybody, really interesting, I have been wondering about it for nearly two years now!

HAWK21M · Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:57 am

Looks like Condensation from the AC ducts through a leak.
Mx need to service the water seperator.

regds
MEL

nycbjr · Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:32 pm

Quoting Roseflyer (Reply 6):
Hundreds of pounds of water can collect in the cabin insulation of an airplane like a 737 over its lifetime.

wouldn't this be a corrosion/mildew problem? or did u mean not all at once that just over the lifetime it would have had that much? curious cause trapped water would smell nasty!

aerdingus · Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:56 pm

Quoting Nycbjr (Reply 10):
curious cause trapped water would smell nasty!

nope it wasn't smelly, thank god!

JoeCanuck · Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:39 pm

Quoting Nycbjr (Reply 10):

Corrosion resistance is one of the benefits Boeing gives for going to a CFRP fuse on the 787.

aerdingus · Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:30 pm

Quoting JoeCanuck (Reply 12):

Corrosion resistance is one of the benefits Boeing gives for going to a CFRP fuse on the 787.

Sorry I don't quite understand...

osiris30 · Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:36 pm

Quoting Aerdingus (Reply 13):
Sorry I don't quite understand...

The new materials in use on the 787 aren't nearly as likely to corrode in the presence of water at aluminium, that's all Joe was saying.

As for rain on the plane, I *always* seem to get the drippy seat. It *never* fails..

HAWK21M · Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:39 am

Quoting Osiris30 (Reply 14):
As for rain on the plane, I *always* seem to get the drippy seat. It *never* fails..

I was going to tell you to try the Jumpseat,But then even the P5 overhead panel on the B752 leaks Smile

regds
MEL

aerdingus · Tue Mar 03, 2009 12:55 pm

Quoting Osiris30 (Reply 14):
The new materials in use on the 787 aren't nearly as likely to corrode in the presence of water at aluminium

Ah, I get it

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 15):

I was going to tell you to try the Jumpseat

sigh...one can only dream

autothrust · Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:29 pm

Just to know, has anyone experienced this on other Boeings, Lockheeds, Airbusses or Maddogs ?

tdscanuck · Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:15 pm

Quoting Autothrust (Reply 17):
Just to know, has anyone experienced this on other Boeings, Lockheeds, Airbusses or Maddogs ?

I've experienced it a couple of times on MD's (and their "Boeing" successor, 717's). I've heard of it lots on DC-10's, though never experienced it personally.

Tom.

hangarrat · Wed Mar 04, 2009 5:08 am

The only time I've ever seen rain on a plane was in Ecuador on a TAME 727. I have seen water pouring out of aircon ducts on a Delta 767 soaking passengers before takeoff on a New York-Sao Paulo flight. It made me angry just to think that I might have been in those seats.

aerdingus · Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:06 am

Seems this rain in plane thing is quite the regular occurence then!

osiris30 · Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:45 pm

Quoting Autothrust (Reply 17):
Just to know, has anyone experienced this on other Boeings, Lockheeds, Airbusses or Maddogs ?

Yes, Wasn't old enough to remember, Yes and Yes. The MD-80 used to be one of the aircraft that liked taking a leak on me to the most. Had a few drippy 320s too.

HAWK21M · Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:05 am

Quoting Aerdingus (Reply 20):

Seems this rain in plane thing is quite the regular occurence then!

mist is common,if the Water seperator is ineffective.
regds
MEL.

autothrust · Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:45 am

Quoting Osiris30 (Reply 21):
Had a few drippy 320s too

Funny i never experienced that on any european carrier A320series i've flown. Also on other Airbus models i never experienced that even in the most humid enviroment.

But of course i don't won't exclude this also happen on Airbusses.

osiris30 · Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:35 am

Quoting AutoThrust (Reply 23):
Funny i never experienced that on any european carrier A320series i've flown. Also on other Airbus models i never experienced that even in the most humid enviroment.

Had an AC 320 (or 319, etc.) drip on me from BGI->YYZ. Granted it wasn't a down pour, just a little drip from the panel near the air vents. Like I aid, I'm a magnet for it. The last flight I took (AC 967) from BGI to YYZ on a 763ER decided to drip too. It all depends on how long they are on the ground and how much moisture they suck up.

In Barbados there are no jetways and the doors are often left open, and the plane in the sun. Lots of warm humid air gets cooled down very quicly when they button it up and switch on the packs.

aerdingus · Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:53 pm

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 22):

mist is common,if the Water seperator is ineffective.

Yeah I remember seeing a video on Youtube of mist inside a flight in Russia somewhere, they took it on their mobile phone, looked scary.

PITingres · Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:38 pm

Quoting Osiris30 (Reply 24):
In Barbados there are no jetways and the doors are often left open, and the plane in the sun. Lots of warm humid air gets cooled down very quicly when they button it up and switch on the packs.

You bet. On the outbounds from BGI, I've often heard crew tell the pax over the PA system that after the doors are shut, they'll see lots of fog from the vents, and would the pax please keep the screaming to a minimum. Smile

DocLightning · Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:51 am

I've had this happen three times. And always because someone's water bottle in their carry-on leaked.

BE77 · Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:21 pm

Quoting Autothrust (Reply 17):
Just to know, has anyone experienced this on other Boeings, Lockheeds, Airbusses or Maddogs ?

On just about everything in tropical environments. In particular, BW L1011's and MD 80's, Guyana and North American 757 when they flew in the 90's, SR MD80. Also in DH 6's, Skyvans, C208's, and everything else used in the tropics that has AC.

Now that I think about it, it hasn't happened to me in the last year on regular BW 738 flights. Maybe the newer stuff is better? Not a lot of Arbii or ATR's in the parts of the world I work in to be able to 'test' their systems on.

Sasha · Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:22 am

I had experienced the same on A310-300, only during landing phase. The weather outside was rainy - anything to do with that? thought since air conditioning draws air from engine intake, thought it's kinda nothing to worry about.

Fly2HMO · Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:51 am

I've seen it often in 737 classics. My last flight in a 732 with 6A rows 4 through about 6 were completely drenched (the main AC duct is located somewhere in that area IIRC). All the gasper vents were dripping more than a drop per second, one of the seats was completely soaked, and nobody was assigned to it. The interesting part is that the humidity was only 15% at the time.

HAWK21M · Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:23 pm

Quoting FLY2HMO (Reply 30):

With so much water...It has to be the water separator[Coalasant bag] on the RH pack. Smile

regds
MEL

EireRock · Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:56 am

You will also get a lot of moisture around the doors and overwing exits due to the door heaters (on 737ng anyway).

474218 · Fri Mar 20, 2009 2:24 am

If its warm and humid in the cabin, condensation will form on the outside of the air conditioning ducts and ceiling panels adjacent to the ducts. When enough condensation forms gravity takes over and it drips. There is nothing that can be done to prevent it except turn off the air conditioning and let it get real hot in the cabin so the water evaporates.

Its the same thing that happens on the outside of your cold beer bottle in warm humid weather.

It is nothing to worry about.

aerdingus · Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:40 am

Quoting 474218 (Reply 33):

Its the same thing that happens on the outside of your cold beer bottle in warm humid weather.

Nice comparison!

It's Raining Again...inside A 737

It's Raining Again...inside A 737

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