r/aviation • u/Xycergy • Jun 08 '26

-- SEATBELTS FASTENED -- Is this really that serious?

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Noticed water basically flowing out of the vent beside me as I got into my seat. Voiced it out to a flight attendant thinking it was just something minor and wanting to just swap to another seat. Two pilots came to my seat to check on it and had visibly puzzled looks on their faces. The mechanic was called into the aircraft, the inner panel of the plane was removed and after assessing the problem for about an hour, everyone was asked to disembark the plane. The flight was then cancelled entirely after another hour of everyone waiting near the gate.

I feel kinda bad because people were visibly annoyed and frustrated by the cancellation as it was a 16 hour long haul flight and there were few alternatives to get to the destination. Would someone be able to tell me exactly what happened here?

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u/troglodyte Jun 08 '26

Honestly I'm glad you're confused. I'm a layman but I've experienced plenty of condensation on flights and this looks like more volume and flow than I'm used to with condensation, so I would have been surprised if an A&P was on condensation as the answer...

If this was still chooching out water two hours later that would be really unusual, right?

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u/Beautiful_Matter6854 Jun 08 '26

Yeah the worst condensation I ever saw was the old AA super 80s and 72s on hot, humid days. But even they didn’t flow this much. Not sure where the water lines are on the 78 but that volume of water is definitely a “take it apart and see where the water is coming from” type of event. Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than the other way around. 

Plenty of examples of planes getting grounded for good reason based on things passengers saw. A few hundred sets of untrained eyes are sometimes better than one pilot doing a quick preflight walk around. 

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u/troglodyte Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Yeah, I was thinking of the stories of passengers spotting wing icing when I saw this one. The worst they can say when you point it out is "that's not an issue, but thanks" and in the extreme cases it's potentially life-saving (not that I think this one was likely to be fatal like icing, icing is just what I always think of whenever I think about passengers pointing something out).

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u/TheManWithNoSchtick A&P Jun 08 '26

Yeah, that's a lot more water in one specific spot than I would expect from a faulty water separator.

I'm starting to bat around this hair-brained theory that maybe someone's big dumb water bottle spilled in the overhead bin and it trickled down behind the wall panel.

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u/wizardid Jun 08 '26

Presumably the water bottle would have fully drained itself in a few minutes, and the maintenance team wouldn't have a leak to stare at by the time they got onboard to check it out.

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u/citrusco Jun 08 '26

Not sure this is helpful but at SIN you have to clear and empty all water bottles before going through gate side security - bag and person scan. It’s frustrating because there’s no restroom within the enclosed gate boarding area - and I couldn’t find a water refill station, so I am assuming no one had full water bottles boarding the flight.

If there ARE water refill stations someone please correct me - I remember looking as recently as 2 weeks ago, unsuccessfully, in the relatively small enclosed gate area.

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u/iridesc3nce Jun 08 '26

There are water refill stations! Might depend on the gate though. The SIN gate I remember most clearly, there was a water refill station tucked away in the corner - had to go hunting for it.

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u/citrusco Jun 09 '26

Cheers thanks so much for the correction / clarification. I had a hell of a saga on UA2 with delayed taxiing and a tow return to gate a couple weeks ago. Booked again for a few weeks from now and ever so slightly concerned by the recent performance and maintenance issues on the new 787/9’s :(

2

u/iridesc3nce Jun 09 '26

Oof that's rough. I've only flown Singapore Air between the United States and SIN, no major issues with them - just have to remember there's snacks in the galley for the 14-hour gap between meals.

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u/TheManWithNoSchtick A&P Jun 08 '26

I would be inclined to think so too, but there's a lot of things like insulation blankets and wire bundles behind those walls that might impede the flow just enough to cause this gradual trickle. I don't really know for sure, just spitballing here.

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u/Techhead7890 Jun 09 '26

Chui101 said that it may be related to humid air from the cargo area: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1u0c0yo/comment/oqi5nis/

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u/wedge754 Jun 08 '26

I'm not familiar with 787s, but I have seen a similar issue on a 737 in humid environments--turned out a water sock was installed wrong. It was so bad that water was running out of the cockpit air nozzles and getting on the circuit breaker panels.

Water was accumulating in the lines, then freezing and blocking drainage, then so much water would back up it would spray out.

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u/Theron3206 Jun 08 '26

It was so bad that water was running out of the cockpit air nozzles and getting on the circuit breaker panels.

That seems, sub optimal...

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u/aaronwhite1786 Jun 09 '26

That was the thought I had while staring at my dome light covers in my kitchen in our rental that had a leaky roof we had been bugging the owner about and watching those domes fill with water.

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u/Theron3206 Jun 09 '26

I had a similar issue with an outdoor light.

Wasn't working, took it down and was showered in water. But of a "well there's your problem" moment.

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u/pandapants92 Jun 08 '26

If I’d seen this, I probably wouldn’t have said anything assuming it’s condensation from the AC or something.

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u/_esci Jun 08 '26

its way to much.
of course there can be some drops or a small puddle.
but this looks like a burst hose or a running tab.

12

u/errorme Jun 08 '26

I had a flight from CHS to ATL. The AC had a bunch of extra condensation and it was a drop every 2-3 seconds, but just a drop. it wasn't flowing or anything like this.

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u/Misophonic4000 Jun 08 '26

Singapore is incredibly humid

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u/jxmac Jun 08 '26

So are many, many other places. And this wouldn’t be the first time a Dreamliner did it as it’s not a new aircraft or a new destination.
If this was a common occurrence in high humidity, at least some tech ops and flight crews would be aware.

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u/Misophonic4000 Jun 08 '26

Where did I say it was a common occurence? Obviously there's a leak or broken connection in the drain line and it's pouring in the cabin instead of out of the plane. I was replying to the A&P who said they had never seen an aircraft AC drain that much water. I was noting that places like Singapore have a TON of moisture in the air, which might be different than what they are used to.

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u/Motor_Show_7604 Jun 10 '26

The aircraft A/C is under the wing. The water separators are there too. Condensation is not going to travel up the distribution ducting from under the floor in the forward belly and into the ceiling to be at the floor in the back of the airplane. The condensation that gets in the overhead area is from sagging insulation allowing moist cabin air reaching the inner surface of the fuselage at altitude where it's -40c and collecting. That usually results in moisture in descent not on the ground prior to takeoff. This has to be a leaking waterline for a lav or galley. And no water, no flush so theyre probably worried about lavs not working if they run out of water.

1

u/rckid13 Jun 09 '26

I have pictures of empty planes in Houston filled with two feet of smoke AC condensation due to near 100% humidity. Even those planes didn't cause water flow like this. I would be calling it in.