Cockpit fumes check on BA jets
By Heather Tomlinson
06 May 2001
British Airways is making urgent safety checks on 29 of its Boeing 757s after seven recent incidents when engine fumes leaked into cockpits. An Independent on Sunday investigation has uncovered a series of problems with 757s threatening safety, which have been investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority. Most involve planes owned by British Airways but other airlines may be involved.
In one case, says a CAA report, a Boeing 757 had to be withdrawn from service. Others were temporarily taken out of action for modification. The CAA details a "serious incident" that left pilots "partially incapacitated", failing to answer calls from air traffic controllers, after an "oily metallic smell" entered the cockpit.
This was last November, days after pilots in a BAe 146 plane were said to have almost passed out during a flight when fumes entered. A CAA report of another 757 incident said the pilot had developed a "significant headache in and after the flight and an inability to concentrate". In March, a 757 flight crew suffered irritation and the plane made an emergency descent. In February, the flight crew grew dizzy and had to fly wearing their oxygen masks. In January, a plane was withdrawn from service after four similar incidences of fumes in the cockpit.
The Boeing 757's principal user in the UK is BA, which employs the 180-seat aircraft for European flights. The airline says there have been seven incidents in the past six months involving three planes, where oily fumes led to pilots feeling nauseous and dizzy and gave them headaches. The fumes are thought to come from faulty engine seals, which let oil enter the air-conditioning.
CAA reports indicate the problem of cockpit fumes on 757 flights may have affected more than just seven BA flights. But the CAA reports do not specify the airlines involved in each incident but merely the aircraft type.
BA said there were potentially 29 aircraft that could be affected. "Of those, the ones that have a minor oil problem have been modified, and we are modifying all the others," said a spokesman. "We have had a meeting with Boeing and Rolls-Royce [the engine maker] to get to the heart of the problem and come up with modifications."
BA denies safety is threatened. "The flight crew is so highly trained that if there was any inkling that the problems were putting the aircraft in danger then appropriate action would be taken," said the spokesman.
But aviation experts said there could be a risk to passengers. "If the level of contamination is such that one pilot feels dizzy or sick that is a safety issue," said David Learmount, an editor of the industry bible, Flight International.
The British Air Line Pilots Association (Balpa), the pilots' trade union, wants an investigation into the long-term health effects of inhaling organophosphates in the engine oil.
"It's a toxic chemical that affects the neurological system," said Bruce D'Ancey, Balpa assistant technical secretary. "We have been highlighting concerns about possible contamination for the past two years."