Was a pilot briefly on the Bae-146-100 with ALF-502 and 503 engines. Fun, fun airplane. Experienced guys running the ground school informed us that on the first flight of the day it was quite possible after the APU was fired up and the packs turned on before boarding to get a bad smell like vomit in the cabin. This was "Pack Oil" the instructor said, and it had leaked into the bleed air system overnight.
One aircraft that hasn't been mentioned as case law for cabin air contamination is the MD-80 series. A few years ago flight attendants for American or Delta (can't remember) won a huge lawsuit in the U.S. over the leaked memo from MD that admitted that they had placed a skydraul overflow drain upwind of the pack intake, and in this memo advised that they would not be involved in moving it. Very damning evidence. Court ruled that the drain be moved since flight attendants and passengers sometimes witnessed a mist layer visible in the cabin and became ill. It was reported in the papers, unfortunately only the plaintiff flight attendants got damages and the judge issued a gag order on the amount and other terms of the settlement.
Always seemed like something was eating my rubber shoe soles after preflight. Very toxic Skydraul all over the ramp! I remember feeling like crap frequently when I rode in the back of those MD80's. Might explain why I only have 80% of my lung efficiency left!
