Olympic Airways 417: A Key Moment For The In-Flight Smoking Ban

If you have traveled on an airplane, you may have noticed prominent “no smoking” lights right next to the seatbelt signs on commercial aircraft. It was not always the case, as the outlawing of smoking onboard aircraft became a gradual process in the 1990s. A tragic incident in January 1998 onboard Olympic Airways Flight 417 became a key turning point in establishing in-flight smoking laws.