URGENT:Exposure
 

On the 14th of July 2009 a helicopter run by a private firm and contracted out to NATO was shot down in Southern Afghanistan. The helicopters registration was ER-MCV.

I was exposed to the fumes from the burning craft for roughly 7 hours, with no protective equipment. By exposed I mean I was standing withing the fusilage recovering the remains of the crew.

All I can find out about this craft is that;
1. Designation ER-MCV
2. Contrator Pecotox
3. Owner Tokorenko
4. Type of craft MI-26.

What sort of long term health risks will I be likely to suffer as a result of this exposure?

P.S. Admins - I apologise for multi-posting this, but as you can see this is quite an important issue.

That is completely impossible to say. Unless someone on here happens to know the exact materials used in the aircraft in question, and the effects of said materials when burned and their fumes inhaled, you will not get a comprehensive answer.

Chances are you will experience no adverse side effects at all, although if I were you I'd head to your GP/doctor and discuss it with them.

"Unless someone on here happens to know the exact materials used in the aircraft in question, and the effects of said materials when burned and their fumes inhaled"

This is why I chose to post this question in a forum where people who have alot of knowlege about aircraft come. My medical officer has no idea what to look for either, people don't generally go into burning wreckage without any personal protective equipment so this is a rather unique case.

I understand sir, and you are correct it is very unusual. However, if your medical officer does not know what to look for, I suspect you won't find anything of use on here. If it was me (and bear in mind my opinion does not represent a 'relevant' medical perspective), I'd forget about it.

I hope someone can answer your queries better than I can, all the best, and I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about.

7 hours in a burning aircraft?

Umm, forget the respirator. Someone should have stuck an apple in your teeth and shoved some stuffing up your bum because you would have been well cooked if that was true. ;)

What makes you think you were exposed to anything toxic? Have you any symptoms? Or is this a generic "If I ever get a cancer I can blame it on this" sort of thing?

My point is that you really haven't done anything special in that thousands of other people are exposed to burning paint, metals, POL, plastics, etc. every day without protective gear and they do just fine.

So if you aren't ill why are you hitting the panic button and going 'Urgent" on us?

I think you have every right to be concerned, a major risk factor when dealing with any aircraft accident is exposure to dangerous carbon fibres etc. The exposure times im talking about are minute compared to the time you spent exposed!!
Can you tell me why you were near a burning aircraft without BA in the first place? If it was solely a body recovery operation then why risk anymore fatalities by entering a burning fuselage. anyway some info here Dangers of Carbon Fibre Debris from Aircraft Crashes Exposed - NetComposites

StdbD - I wasn't sat within the wreckage, I was working within the crash site (minimum of 5 meters maximum of 10 meters from the fusilage). I believe that not only the fumes from the burning airframe, but also aviation fuel etc would count as more than a general burning plastics risk. This isn't a blame it on anyone situation, it's a 'noone knows whats going on because its unique and I was hopeing you guys would help'' situation, which brings me onto...

vip-1 - The article you suggested was extremely useful, and has given me a starting point to go to my MO with. As to your question I was near the aircraft without any PPE simply because as Infantry we arent equipped to deal with this situation, and due to the location of the crash and the potential for civilian casualties (only the 6 crew and one child were reported but I can assure you there were more) the decision was made and we were on the scene within minutes rather than waiting for an RAF rescue crew who would have taken hours to turn up, and by the time we got around to recovering the bodies we had already been exposed for about 2 hours. Due to the nature of the crash and the spread of the wreckage there wasn't much of a fusilage to enter (see picture Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting ).

The MI-26 is a Russian built military helo. It is an all metal flying tank so discussions of composites are a waste of time.

So we are back to POL, plastics, rubber and paint. Any industrial safety expert should be able to advise.

Unless you are going for the gold there is likely nothing to worry about. Which is why the rest of your unit, your superiors, and the Medical Officer apparently haven't been able to contribute anything.

Still no symptoms?

detox treatment as precautionary measure?