Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994                   TAG: 9406050030
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Medium

LIQUEFIED HUMAN WASTE FALLS FROM PLANE `POOP' SHOWER DISGUSTS FAIRFAX MAN; FA

But what he thought were sprinkles from scattered clouds turned out to be something far worse.

"Then the smell hit me," said Bayer, 46. "The smell was unmistakable. It was human poop."

His sport coat was covered with brown splotches, and his car had about a half-dozen spots per square foot, including the upholstery. His neighbor's car also was covered with drops.

"Do I need to wear a hat? Wear protective clothing? Carry an umbrella all the time?" Bayer said. "This can't be permitted to happen."

He said the substance came from a plane that was flying overhead toward Dulles International Airport, about four miles west of his home in Fair Oaks near Fairfax. The only explanation was that a plane discharged its waste before landing.

Federal Aviation Administration officials are investigating what aircraft landed at Dulles between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when Bayer said the incident occurred. About seven planes landed during that time, the FAA said.

Airline representatives said they are unsure what the substance was. "I can't think of anything" that could leak from an airliner, a Boeing spokeswoman said.

The FAA said a valve that seals waste into tanks on most planes could have been loose, causing liquefied sewage to leak. Officials are checking to see whether maintenance crews at Dulles reported such a leak.

Pilots do not have the controls to dispose of waste while in flight. Chemicals that break down solid waste, disinfectants and perfume are added to the plane's waste tank, and the mixture could leak through the valve outside the plane if it is not closed properly.

At high altitudes, the liquid freezes and sometimes falls in solid form. Bayer thinks the liquid thawed as the plane descended toward Dulles.

Timothy Neale, a spokesman with the Air Transport Association, an airline industry organization, said solid waste cannot escape through the narrow valve.

"To be hit with excrement is very perplexing," Neale said.

Bayer said airlines should ensure that residential areas such as his be protected from droppings from the not-so-friendly skies.

"I won't harass their pilots if they don't poop on my kids and me," he said.