Originally Posted by
JammedStab
Quick question...why would the crew don their O2 masks if there is a "obnoxious smell" in the back? Isn't the smell way in the back. Why O2 masks?
Procedurally you do it as part of a SFF, or Smoke, Fire, or Fumes drill.
Common sense would dictate that if the fumes were way in the back, you wouldn't need to put on masks up front.
But the days of common sense have been superseded by somewhat blind adherence to procedure.
Many Boeing abnormal checklists I've used had something like:
O2 masks - (if required) on, 100%.
However, often you would be led to another Smoke or Fumes removal checklist that did not have the parenthetical 'if required' part.
In recent years Boeing has worked to go to more unified company checklists for things like SFF and hydraulic failures and it seems to me that many airlines are going back to standard Boeing checklists and procedures. I can remember when the Delta B-757 before takeoff checklist had nearly a dozen items while the Boeing checklist had only one. I was told that the Delta checklist was inherited from the DC-8 training department.
Any Nigel's care to enlighten us on how it's done on the BA Triple?