An irritation in modern airline travel which has so far defeated the armies of gifted engineers who design aircraft is the issue of malodorous lavatories. Sadly the small space, the high usage rate, the need to capture the toilets contents and store it and the poor ventilation all conspire to render the 'facilities' on some aircraft places to visit only when very much in need.

Cabin crews are well aware of the problem and have come up with an ingenious technique to take the edge off the pong; coffee. Some enterprising soul has discovered that the food service coffee sachets which the crew use to make up the beverage cart are somewhat odour absorbent and can be hung in the rest room to good effect. Even better, there is a handy hook on the ceiling of some models of aircraft which can be used to suspend said coffee granules. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for one poor woman, quite a bit. The passenger in question was wearing a snappy outfit of tight white trousers and a short white t-shirt and went into the lavatory to do her thing. A few moments later she exited the convenience in hysterics having been deluged with coffee granules when the sachet which was suspended on the ceiling decided to split, cascading its contents over her. The main cause of her alarm was the she didn't know it was coffee; she's just been sitting on the loo when a deluge of brown stuff has descended on her.

After a swift intervention by the flight crew and a lot of explaining about why coffee sachets were hung in the restroom she was persuaded to go back inside and undress in order to shake all the grounds out of her garments and order was restored. So that's why there's a bag of coffee hanging over your head if your reading this in an aircraft john.