1 September 2005
HELIOS BOEING 737 CRASH, CONTAMINATED AIR ?
AOPIS PRESS RELEASE
WORLDWIDE
Whilst investigations continue into the circumstances of tragic accident to the Helios Boeing 737 crash of last month in Greece, it is important that the investigators look into all aspects of the investigation WITHOUT being influenced by interested parties.
The question in everyone's mind is how were the pilots incapacitated.
Some tell us that the aircraft may have been only slightly pressurised as the crew are reported to have taken off in 'Manual' mode instead of 'Automatic' with the controller in the 1/3 open position and hence it is hypoxia that caused the crew to become incapacitated however this story does not appear to be the full truth but may be a convenient way to blame the pilots rather than accept what could be an industry cover up.
All commercial jet aircraft have a cockpit warning system which warns the pilots when the aircraft internal cabin pressure reaches 10000ft. Maximum cabin altitudes on commercial jet aircraft can reach about 8000ft so at 10000ft the flight crew have enough time to cancel the aural / visual warnings and deal with the problem and this is why 10000ft was accepted as a sensible point to warn the crews.
It is reported that on the Helios flight the crew were ALREADY incapacitated by the time the cabin altitude reached 10000ft as the warning was never cancelled by the crew as is standard practice to do so. So how is this possible and what could have done this ?
It is reported by other Helios crew that the crash aircraft had a history of 'Strange Smells' yet those who have publically reported these events have NEVER been contacted by the accident investigators. Strange smells on commercial jet aircraft are usually linked to a CONTAMINATED AIR SUPPLY, so what could have contaminated the air to produce the smells and what effects could it have ?
The air being breathed by the pilots and flight attendants WHICH IS NOT FILTERED FOR TOXIC FUMES could have been contaminated by electrical fumes due to wiring problems or by engine oils and hydraulic fluids. This has been known for over 30 years in the airline industry and yet there are NO contaminated air detection systems fitted on commercial jet aircraft!
We are aware of many previous examples of pilots becoming incapacitated due to exposure to invisible oil and hydraulic fumes, we and the industry are also aware of many serious flight safety errors where crews have made serious flight safety errors due to contaminated air.
Boeing, Airbus, British Aerospace and other manufacturers all know about this problem but like the early days of smoking, many choose to deny the issue or do all they can to cover the issue up. Crews around the world often experience contaminated air and do nothing to protect themselves out of ignorance or fear of being seen as a trouble maker.
In 2000, following a double crew incapacitation, the Australian Senate completed a year long inquiry into these matters and concluded crews WERE getting sick and that flight safety WAS being compromised.
Since then, in 2000 the Canadian Transport Bureau Interim report on Swissair 111 accident, stated:
"…recognition that within the aviation industry there has been belief that odours are often a non event diminishing concern about minor odours."
British Aerospace who have known for over 20 years of contaminated air problems on the BAe 146 stated a few years ago in an engineering Service Bulletin (number SB 21-150):
"In the past oil leaks and cabin/flight deck smells and fumes may have come to be regarded as a nuisance rather than a potential flight safety issue. However whilst investigations are being carried out to determine the nature of any agents that may be released into the cabin environment and to define any necessary corrective actions, oil leaks and cabin flight deck smells must be regarded as a potential threat to flight safety not just a nuisance."
The Australian Safety Board (ATSB), the British Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB), The Swedish Air Accident Investigation Branch etc… all know about these issues and have done so for many years but manufacturers and many airlines fail to take adequate actions to protect passengers and crews.
Below are some examples from the UK alone where crews have been incapacitated due to fumes but the same reports exists in all countries. It may well be that on this sad occasion it has had tragic consequences but we were warned…..
Former Australian BAe 146 pilot Mr Nevan Pavlinovich stated in the AOPIS documentary: 'Contaminated Air: An Ongoing Health and Safety Issue' in 2003 that:
"if there is an accident it won't be an accident, as everyone knows about it!".
The Greek coroner Mr Kotsaftis tells the media that the dead pilots had no carbon monoxide poisoning so there was no contaminated air. The industry knows that you frequently get contaminated air with no carbon monoxide!
The oils crews are breathing contain organophosphates which are neurotoxins which the United States Air Force previously warned were dangerous when inhaled!
The accident investigation should be part of an open public inquiry and not allowed to be another industry cover up where pilots are blamed for errors when they may have become incapacitated due to an industry in denial of what is a serious health and safety issue.
We have numerous examples of crew becoming incapacitated in flight and available on request by email.
For more information visit
www.aopis.org or Sally at
[email protected]