Believe it or not, pilots relieving themselves mid-flight has become a national security issue. 

For decades, many military pilots who heard nature’s call — particularly those who fly fighters and especially women in those planes — faced an unpleasant reality: use the decades-old ‘piddle packs’ or other devices designed for mid-flight peeing, hold it the whole way, or risk dangerous dehydration by drinking so little water that you never need to go.

But a new device, dubbed the Advanced Inflight Relief Universal System or AIRUS, developed through an Air Force innovation incubator program, may make it easier going for, well, going. 

For as long as there have been planes in the sky, pilots in single-seat aircraft like fighter jets or others with ejection seats have had to unbuckle their harnesses and shimmy up from their seats to find a position that allowed for relief. In rare occasions, the urge to go has led to fatal accidents, including one A-10 pilot who failed to re-strap himself properly into his parachute after using a device to pee, only to be forced to eject later in the flight.

But while mishaps are rare, drinking too much water is a daily struggle, particularly for women pilots who fly fighters, who have long found even traditional “piddle packs” to be woefully inadequate. Many say they regularly fly while dehydrated, hurting reflexes and leaving them susceptible to G-induced loss of consciousness — to avoid peeing on a flight.