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18th of January 2002: a Lufthansa flight from Kattowitz to Frankfurt.
Suddenly oil fumes fill the cockpit. They are so intense that the pilots become sick.
Captain Andreas Tittelbach recalls the event:
Eventually we put our oxygen masks on and something amazing happened.
we became awake and could think clearly, and realised only then ...
that our cognitive ability and performance had been considerably impaired.
Eight years later. Charlotte, USA. The crew of a US Airways flight leaves the airport in ambulances.
An incident with the cabin air occurred on board a Boeing 767.
The crew complained about strong headaches and feeling unwell after a “dirty socks smell” was noticed.
Also eight passengers had to receive medical treatment upon arrival at the airport.
One month later: Lufthansa flight 753 from Hyderabad approaching Frankfurt International Airport.
An oil smell is noticed by the cockpit crew.
The pilots don their oxygen masks and succeed in landing the aircraft.
The aircraft manufacturer, Airbus does not wish to answer specific questions. By email they claim:
“Airbus aircraft are designed so that under normal operating conditions ...
clean cabin air quality is assured”.
Normal operation conditions!
So what happens in abnormal conditions?
The German pilot association “Cockpit” is very concerned. Their spokesperson explains why:
“From time to time crews and passengers get exposed to very toxic substances.
This should not happen, but apparently it happens over and over.
We are concerned that it happens more often than it is so far accpeted”.
Even Lufthansa admits internally, one event every 2000 take-offs.
This means one event per day, with Lufthansa alone.
The problem: with all modern aircraft the cabin air is bled directly off the engines.
This bleed air is not filtered.
Heated oil fumes may therefore enter the breathing air supply. A mix of toxic chemicals.
Among those, betanaphtylamine which is carcinogenic,
and tricresyl phosphate, TCP, a potent neurotoxin.
But can this damage your health?
Yes, says the renowned Australian toxicologist Chris Winder from Sydney, among other scientists.
For more than 15 years he has researched the dangers of aircraft cabin air.
This is the oil that is used in a lot of planes. On the back of the can here it says:
“Warning. Contains tricresyl phosphate.
Swallowing this product can cause nervous system disorders including paralysis.
Prolonged or repeated breathing of oil mist ...
or prolonged or repeated skin contact can cause nervous system effects”.
This is a toxic oil. As long as it stays in the engine, it is fine.
But if it’s going to go in the bleed air system and people are going to inhale it or get it on their skin,
I don’t recommend that at all.
Especially effected by oil events are frequent flyers, flight attendants, pilots.
Aircraft manufactures do not agree. For example, Boeing says:
“Presently there is no data indicating bleed air contamination ...
poses a risk to the health of passengers or aircrews”.
Is that true? Back in the mid-nineties large numbers of people were getting ill in Australia.
One aircraft became the prime suspect:
The British Aerospace BAe 146.
Many affected people were referred to toxicologist Professor Winder.
I first saw three aircraft workers back in 1997 – two pilots and a flight attendant,
and then a little bit later 3 became 5, 5 became 10, and 10 became 20.
And when we started getting such large numbers I realised there was something going on.
And then I met somebody in France who had similar numbers of workers with the same problem.
I realised it wasn’t an Australian issue, it was maybe an international issue.
But there has been no action by airlines, manufactures or the authorities for ten years.
Numerous studies and publications apparently were simply ignored.
Many flight crew members who became exposed to oil fumes got their blood analysed ...
by a US expert who specializes in finding the related toxins. He states:
Blood tests showing the specific antibody that confirms brain damage and cell death –
those aircrew members that showed positive results ...
had been exposed to contaminated air in airline cabins.
And how many cases are known in Germany? We asked our airlines.
Germanwings gave us no information at all.
Air Berlin claims: None recorded.
Condor admits so far only one “possibly affected”.
And Lufthansa tells us: “In the past four years our flight medical service has not documented a single case”.
Strange: Lufthansa CityLine captain Tittelbach has been ...
unfit to fly since November 2008 due to medical reasons.
He also consulted experts in Britain and the United States.
They found evidence of damage in his central nervous system and his brain.
Meanwhile he has sued his employer.
The reason for suing Lufthansa CityLine is because since 1994 ...
when I started to work as a pilot on the AVRO regional jet,
on many occasions I was exposed to toxic oil fumes at my workspace, in the cockpit.
Lufthansa is declining to comment on the ongoing legal cases.
This issue was treated differently in the late nineties in Australia.
Manufacturers and Airlines were questioned in front of a Senate hearing.
The proceedings lasted for two years and many affected people ...
and independent experts were called in and questioned.
The industry should have acted immediately at the time, but nothing has happened.
The former Senator, Reverend John Woodley was the chairman of this Committee.
He is disappointed that the numerous recommendations made by the Commission have been ignored.
I believe the airlines’ behaviour has been appaling, and the behaviour of the manufacturers even worse,
because of course they deal with a number of airlines around the world.
Even though a number of cases have been settled in court, they’ve never admitted ...
that it’s the problem of the fumes which causes long-term suffering and health effects ...
upon pilots and flight attendants, and sometimes even with passengers.
At least BAe reacted to the dangers, two years after the Senate hearings.
A mandatory service bulletin to all operators of BAe 146 aircraft states:
“… oil leaks and cabin / flight deck odours must be regarded as a potential threat to flight safety,
they should not be dismissed as a mere nuisance and should be addressed as soon as possible.”
Despite this, oil incidents are still being called a nuisance.
For those effected, like Captain Tittelbach who flew the BAe 146 Avro , this is incomprehensible.
“The oil manufacturer says the oil is toxic,
the aircraft manufacturer says it is dangerous,
and Lufthansa CityLine says it's just a nuisance.
CityLine denies liability and does not want to take any responsibility”.
The outcome of his case is undecided,
but worldwide and especially in the US an increase in lawsuits is noticable.
Defendants are well-known Airlines, but also the leading manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
And the passengers?
Probably there would be more complaints if they only knew what was really going on,
when there was this strange smell in the cabin during their last flight.