A former flight attendant who worked on planes in the seventies has revealed that the cigarette smoke on planes used to be so thick her makeup would drip down her face.
Talking on a new Daily Mail series called Experts by Decade, Mary Mckenna recalled her memories of working on American Airlines from 1976 to 2010.
While her career had many highlights, the now-outlawed act of smoking during flights posed various concerns for her.
She recalled: ‘The smoke was so intense on the plane that my eye makeup would be dripping down my face, I couldn’t breathe.
Mary also explained that she would have to take extra caution to watch out for passengers falling asleep with lit cigarettes in their hands due to the fire risk.
Mary McKenna (pictured), who worked on American Airlines from 1976 to 2010, said cigarette smoke on flights was so ‘intense’ her makeup would drip off
In 1988, smoking was outlawed for flights under two hours in the US, with the law later increasing to six hours in 1990.
By the late 1990s, most airlines around the world followed suit and put an end to smoking during flights.
The ban is usually now rigorously enforced, with repeated warnings on the overhead speakers and illuminated no-smoking signs.
However, the 1970s and 1980s told a completely different story, with passengers smoking cigarettes, pipes, and cigars while in the air.
Recalling memories of when passengers would smoke onboard, Mary said: ‘Oh, there was cigars, they’d be pipes, the smoke was so intense on the plane that my eye makeup would be dripping down my face, I couldn’t breath.’
Despite her struggling to work with cigarette smoke in the air, there was no other choice.
She recalled: ‘I remember calling the union and getting the union president on the phone and telling her I can’t breathe.
‘She goes, “well you’re going to have to medically disqualify yourself from flying then”, that was the response.’
Flight attendants working on PanAm receive training on cigarette smoking during the 1980s (pictured is a training video)
Linda Freire (pictured), who worked as a flight on PanAm from 1980 to 1991, said passengers would attempt to smoke in non-smoking areas
‘And people would fall asleep with cigarettes in their hands, they could start a fire, that was a real danger, starting a fire on the aeroplane.’
Elsewhere, Linda Freire, who worked as a flight on PanAm from 1980 to 1991, told memories of working on flights where smoking was permitted.
Linda explained that passengers would often attempt to smoke in the non-smoking sections.
‘There was always someone who would book a seat in a non-smoking section and then want to smoke,’ she recalled.
Linda continued: ‘Ironically, a lot of the smokers didn’t want to be in the smoking section, but they wanted to smoke.
‘The people sitting around them weren’t terribly happy if somebody would light up a cigarette.’
The former flight attendants explained that passengers would smoke cigars, cigarettes, and pipes on planes
While smoking on flights has long been banned in the UK, rebellious passengers sometimes attempt to get away with it.
Last year, a Ryanair passenger was hauled off a plane after he smoked in the cabin toilets.
The man, who was said to be wearing a grey t-shirt, shorts, a baseball cap and flip-flops, was greeted by police at Manchester Airport and escorted off the aircraft after the flight touched down from Palma.
Another passenger claimed the incident occurred 20 minutes into the journey on Tuesday.
The father, travelling with his two young daughters, said people on the flight were left ‘on edge,’ including his girls, who were ‘pretty frightened’.
‘One of the flight attendants could smell smoke coming from the toilet,’ he told the Manchester Evening News.
‘They took all his details and then announced it to the whole plane.
‘I was really pleased because they’d named and shamed the person.
‘If you’re willing to have a smoke and put 180 souls on board lives at risk, then you should be named and shamed.’
The witness described the response from Ryanair’s cabin crew as ‘fantastic’.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: ‘The crew of this flight from Palma to Manchester (May 30) called ahead for police assistance after a passenger was found smoking onboard.
‘The passenger was removed from the aircraft by local police upon landing at Manchester Airport.’
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman confirmed officers attended the incident.
At the time, he told MailOnline that the passenger was not arrested ‘as Ryanair did not want to pursue a prosecution.’
They did, however, ban the passenger from flying with them, he added.