This Man Ate an Entire Airplane Piece by Piece

Do you have a special talent? And I’m not talking about simple things like singing or running marathons. I’m talking about weird talents, like being a contortionist or having the ability to eat 50 hot dogs in under five minutes.

So weird, right?

But not as strange as Monsieur Mangetout or, as people in the oddities entertainment industry know him, Mr. Eat It All. He was known to eat rubber, metal, glass and famously an entire airplane!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take you back to the start. Michel Lotito (Mr. Eat It All) was born in France in 1950. When he turned nine, it seems that he was no longer satiated by normal food – so he started eating glass. Seems a little bland, if you as me.

One day, as history notes, Lotito came across a shattered glass and gave it a try. Chomping and chewing the small bits of fragments, it was just the beginning.

He was later examined by doctors and they determined just how unique his body structure was. They diagnosed him with Pica, an eating disorder where people eat things that have no nutritional valve like hair and dirt. In Lotito’s case…glass and metal.

But what about the consequences of swallowing sharp objects? The doctors determined he had such a thick intestinal skin that these normally dangerous items became digestible. Odd isn’t quite the word…

With that, he became Monsieur Mangetout (mange + tout = eat all, in french) and found himself entertaining common folk with his incredible abilities!

How did he do it?

He created a method where he would break metal or rubber pieces down into digestible sizes that his body could handle. With a little lubrication (often mineral oil), the pieces went down smoothly. As his career progressed he consumed 15 supermarket trolleys, chandeliers, TV sets, 18 bicycles and get this….a coffin, handles and all!

What came next? You guessed it: an entire airplane. In 1978 he decided to dismantle and eat a Cessna 150 airplane. The feat took him an incredible two years, as he was only able to consume about 2 pounds of metal a day.

That’s one way to stay away from an iron deficiency! Sheesh.

After a long and dedicated career, Mr. Eat It All passed away at the age of 57. Pica is a dangerous disorder and often leads to lead poisoning or high levels of other toxins in the blood, but it appears he died of natural causes. Legend says his disorder may have kept him alive, as he said he was unable to digest normal food like bananas.

But if he was just the guy that ate a lot of bananas…well, that seems like a waste. Boring… Mr. Mangetout was born to make history.