Originally Posted by
.Scott
My point was that the fire chief could have detected COHb even if there was no CO on the plane. We both hold as suspect the suggestion that cabin CO caused the problem. But there are portable devices that can check for COHb - either from breath or from blood.
Okay, get your point. But I don't buy it (smokers I mean..) Anyone using such equipment would be trained to interpret the result.
I think the post that followed, about exposure on the ground exacerbated by lower pp of oxygen at altitude, is much more plausible.
Re: other posts. I believe A/C have electric ovens not gas ones! Oven linings do not contain carbon, hence not a possible source of CO. Not a lot of CO from electrical fires. As for a smouldering fire somewhere, I think the pax might have noticed the smell of smoke (and perhaps a smoke alarm might have gone off) long before enough CO reached them.
As I have said, the CO call might be a red herring. But if real, then the only likely source is the engines or APU. There is a lot of fuel, it is burnt, and said fuel is mostly carbon... Occam's razor applies.