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Old 2nd Jul 2007, 09:09
  #15 (permalink)  
Pollards
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Well HT you have hit the nail on the head there, whilst crews of some aircraft types report symptoms more than those of other types, all turbine powered aircraft that take air for their passenger/crew compartment from the aircraft engines are susceptible to allowing engine lubricating oil into the air that we breathe on board.
So the fix, well filters would help but would you trust them with such an important job? Perversely, in todays litigious environment the fitting of filters could be resisted by the manufacturers as evidence of a tacit admittance of guilt.
Removing the TCP from the lubicating oils would require a redesign of the turbine engine as the current specification of the oils is as exacting as the design of the powerplant its self. (Taking the big red hazard warning off the oil tin has helped though!)
The best answer would be not to use engine bleed air as breathing air and that would mean a complete rethink in arcraft design, it is inconceivable that such a system could be retro fitted economically to existing aircraft types.
The clever Mr. Boeing is doing just that with the design of the new B787. This fundamental re design, whilst feasible on the drawing board, will not be cheap, and is in its self an indication of the acceptance of the problem by the aircraft manufacturer.
So if you fly one of the aircraft types recognised as a bad offender what type of a pilot are you, are you one of the lucky ones that is not affected (YET)?
Or do you deny to your self and others that you are affected but have a little doubt in the back of you mind?
Or are you fully aware that your performance is worsening, you are perhaps regularly missing the third instruction in a clearance, wracking your head for words in conversation, sleeping away all of your off duty time, does life seem like a treadmill and nothing is any fun any more? As long as you are passing the OPCs LPCs and LCs you must be ok eh....? With a family to support and a mortgage to pay it is easy to ignore the signs or seek other explanations.
It is very comforting to believe the official denials but if you stop for a moment and think about what is at stake here it may become clear why the authorities are playing the problem down. Like everything else its is about money, it is cheaper for the manufacturers to deny the problem exists than to fix it. The operators, however genuine in their concern for passengers and crews, are stuck in a catch 22 situation.
At the very least you owe it to your crew and passengers (the sequence here is intentional!) to find out all you can about the issue and your place within it. You might even want to go that next step and be tested.
Be warned though, once you start looking, you will be horrified.
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