Taking the ‘p’ out of ‘pilots’
Danger Room uses the announcement of the “Advanced Mission Extender Device” [pictured]— a fancy pair of urine-collecting briefs for pilots — to discuss the state of mid-air defueling technology. Pilot relief isn’t just a comfort issue.
“Some pilots do permanent damage to their bladders by holding it in for hours at a time, which can cause incontinence and other problems,” the AP notes. Totally draining yourself — “tactical dehydration” — can cause headaches and worse. “At least twice, F-16s have crashed as their pilots tried to urinate. In 1992, one crashed in Turkey after a belt buckle got wedged between the seat and the control stick, prompting the Air Force to urge pilots not to unbuckle completely.”
