Ryanair B738 near Bremen and Vilnius on Oct 1st 2012, both flight crew partially inca
I have taken the liberty to copy/pate the following from avherald. I thought it may be of interest for the readers of this forum.
Not to secondguess the crew, but speaking for myself I am positive that the minute i felt any effect what so ever of an odor while flying I would don my oxygen mask (as per my companys SOP, and not the least from survival instinct). And I would absolutely NOT operate an return flight...:
A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EBP performing flight FR-7602 from Bremen (Germany) to Vilnius (Lithuania), was climbing out of Bremen, when a pungent odour and patches of haze came out of the air conditioning vents in the cockpit. About 5 minutes into the flight both flight crew felt severe headache, the forward portion of the cabin noticed the odour. The haze and odour dissipated during further climb, the crew recovered and continued the flight to Vilnius. During the descent the odour and haze returned causing again severe headache to both pilots. The aircraft continued for a safe landing at Vilnius.
Following sufficient recovery the crew decided to carry out the return flight FR-7601, too. During departure from Vilnius the odour and haze again occurred to a much lesser extent than during departure at Bremen, the crew continued the flight. During the approach to Bremen, while descending through FL060, the odour and haze appeared again causing again severe headache to both pilots, the first officer, pilot monitoring at that time, also suffered from dizziness. The crew continued the landing without donning oxygen masks and landed safely.
Germany's BFU reported that both pilots suffered lasting health problems following the flight and were not fit for flying in the following days.