Investigation in to plane fumes
29.05.08
Claims that contaminated air on planes is making pilots and passengers ill are to be investigated for the first time by the Government.It is hoped the research will identify any toxins in the air so filters can be developed to prevent dangerous components entering the cabin.
Official figures suggest that the air in one in 2000 flights is polluted with engine oil. Last year, there were 116 contaminated air events reported to the Civil Aviation Authority, out of 1.3million passenger and cargo flights. But unions claim so-called 'dirty air' occurs much more frequently, causing both pilots and passengers to suffer nausea, headaches, dizziness and lethargy. Dr Sarah Mackenzie Ross, a clinical neuropsychologist at University College London, believes as many as 200,000 passengers a year could be affected.
Pilots have reported bad smells or what they believed was contaminated air on a number of aircraft including the Boeing 757, Airbus 319 and BAe 146. Experts have blamed the problem on air from deep within the engines being used to pressurise the cabin. Siphoned off from the engines before the fuel is burned, the 'bleed air' is cooled before being pumped into the cabin. Faulty seals can lead to the air being contaminated with fumes from the engine oil - with seals prone to leak when the plane is on the ground, as well as during take-off and landing.
Critics have accused the aviation industry of trying to cover up a long-established problem, although this is strongly denied by airlines. The study will use equipment provided by Cranfield University to measure the cabin air on five different types of aircraft from five different, undisclosed, airlines. It will look closely at whether engine oil fumes are getting into the bleed air, in particular whether harmful organophosphates are being breathed in by passengers and crew.
Researchers will fly on 100 passenger and cargo aircraft with a range of monitoring devices to see what is in the cabin air. The work has already started. During one flight to test the equipment, researchers were astonished - given the rarity of these occurrences - when the pilot suddenly complained about a strange smell.
The Cranfield tram noticed the aircraft had made a steep take-off and wondered whether the way pilots fly could be triggering pollution incidents. They have asked a statistician to examine the flight data recorder from the aircraft alongside reports of noxious fumes, and believes the two could be linked.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the aviation minister, said: 'We are filling a gap in worldwide knowledge because there are no published studies of air sampling during fume events anywhere.' Professor Helen Muir, who is leading the research, said: 'It's going to be difficult, and that is why we are using the latest equipment to do it. We do know we are looking for volatile organic chemicals to a very, very high level of accuracy. This sort of thing doesn't happen often in aviation.'
The full results are due next year and will be eagerly awaited because there is a great debate within the aviation industry about cabin air contamination.
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