Smoke smell in luggage?

H3llR4iser

Please bear with me, the thread title might look like "what's it to do with aviation?" but it's something maybe some experts and/or insiders might have an answer about.

Long story short, I just came back from a trip to Italy and upon opening my bag at home, I found out that everything inside has taken a very strong smell of smoke, not too different from cigarette smoke smell. It's so bad I needed to rewash everything (even if I had most clothes washed at my parent's place in IT), the air trapped in a couple of plastic bags I had in the suitcase was actually smelling so bag it made me cough upon opening them.

Now, knowing my fellow countrymen, I have no problem imagining the baggage handling area being used as a "smoking point" by the personnel at Ciampino Airport; However, before I send a...ehrm, strongly worded email to Aeroporti di Roma containing a collection of Italian swearing, I'm curious...could there be any physio-chemical process happening at 36k feet in the hold of a 738, which might result in a smoke-like smell (provided that, as far as I know, the plane didn't burst into flames...)? A bit like the one resulting from thunderstorms creating tryoxigen (ozone) and the relevant smell after a big downpour?

martinsvi

any type of smoke in baggage hold should trigger fire alarms which then would result into a divert... Things like electrical arcing, hydraulic or oil fumes etc all have very distinct, chemical smells.. if it's smelling like tobacco, it probably is tobacco

H3llR4iser

martinsvi wrote: »

any type of smoke in baggage hold should trigger fire alarms which then would result into a divert... Things like electrical arcing, hydraulic or oil fumes etc all have very distinct, chemical smells.. if it's smelling like tobacco, it probably is tobacco

Yeah, figured it - just wanted confirmation. Plenty of time I found my luggage smelling like Jet-A1, but that's understandable. Cigarette smoke, that's a first :rolleyes:

Neon_Lights

Durrrty Italian stowaway survives after smoking in the baggage hold on their way to Dublin.

I can see the headlines now.

durandal01

Were you around a BBQ or a campfire?
I find my sense of smell acclimates to the smoke and I don't notice the whiff of my clothes at the time.
A few days later when I smell them they will still have a strong aroma of smoke that I hadn't noticed before.

H3llR4iser

durandal01 wrote: »

Were you around a BBQ or a campfire?
I find my sense of smell acclimates to the smoke and I don't notice the whiff of my clothes at the time.
A few days later when I smell them they will still have a strong aroma of smoke that I hadn't noticed before.

Nah, I wasn't - I know what you mean, like when you go to the chipper and the next day you realize your coat smells like chips!

Anyway everything was fresh from the washing machine the day before leaving, and nobody in my parent's place has been smoking in the last 10 years or so.

Odelay

Someone's vaping juice leaked into the case??

Cessna_Pilot

As much as I'd well believe the baggage handlers in Ciampino would be smoking around the belts, I doubt very much the smoking smell is from them. Most likely in my opinion is that one shirt or garment you wore got the smell when you were out (in my experience everyone smokes in Rome) and has passed onto the rest of your clothing in your bag.