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Pilots protest over 'noxious' air

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Old 11th Dec 2007, 19:12
  #121 (permalink)  
 
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No excuse for not having CO detectors. Some fire departments give away free credit card size detectors that fit in a wallet. $10 each on the web.
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Old 11th Dec 2007, 20:19
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Fume detection

I agree.

Its extraordinary that PPLs commonly add a CO detector to their complement of instruments, while as far as I am aware, there is absolutely NO fume detection equipment as standard of any kind on an airliner carrying hundreds in the back.

PP
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Old 12th Dec 2007, 09:10
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Just found this on the net...........................


Pilot Publishes Plane Fumes Book & Documentary
10.12.07

In a new book a plane crashes at Newcastle Airport after pilots breath in toxic chemicals and pass out at the controls. The author of the book, a former pilot, feels it is only a matter of time before it happens in real life.

Former pilot Tristan Loraine, 45, retired through ill health last year after repeated exposure to air contaminated by jet engine oil severely affected his ability to fly. He was given a £200,000 pay-out and used a large amount of the cash to publish a book called Toxic Airlines and film a documentary - Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines - set at Newcastle Airport.

Mr Loraine, from Horsham, West Sussex, who flew in and out of Newcastle regularly during his career, claims he suffered varying degrees of contamination on at least 75 percent of the Boeing 757 flights he piloted. He says he even once had to carry out an emergency landing at the airport because the fumes were so overpowering.

He said: 'I flew as an airline pilot from the age of 17 before retiring last December as a result of exposure to contaminated air during my career. I started writing the book when I was sick, to tell the world this story. Twelve doctors have said I am ill from contaminated exposure . . . if I am not safe to fly how can they say there is not a problem?'

'I was given £200,000 from my airline and immediately used it to set up the film production company to tell the world what is going on. The documentary will have a limited release at the cinema and has received some fantastic reviews.

Mr Loraine wants the airlines to fit filters on their planes. He said: 'There is no detection system on the planes, yet some of these chemicals are odourless so there should be a warning. Most homes have smoke or carbon monoxide alarms. Crew and passengers are being exposed to this every time they fly and are not told anything. There are young children being exposed to these toxic chemicals.'

'People in the aviation industry have known about this for 40 years and have just been covering up. The British Government knows about this but they are just protecting the aviation authority's interests. I know people who tell me they are not well but they have got to pay bills so they just carry on flying.'

LJ
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Old 12th Dec 2007, 10:28
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House Of Lords report

Looks like the House Of Lords are onto it already:

http://www.publications.parliament.u...1/12102.htm#a9

LJ
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Old 12th Dec 2007, 10:52
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Yes Minister

Beware there's a lot of Sir Humphreyness around this issue. See www.aerotoxic.org

ALL a/c feed the aircon system via engine bleed air, so it's possible on any type.
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Old 12th Dec 2007, 10:55
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Moderators

What's going on here? For the 2nd time a post of mine is denied until a moderator has "seen" it. It then never appears, no dodgy language, nada!?

This is a 3rd try, though not addressing the subject. Why please?
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 17:26
  #127 (permalink)  
 
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Toxic Cabin Air in 757, BAe 146, A319, Embraer 145

The Daily Telegraph travel section has an interesting piece today on the effects of engine gas contamination in commercial aircraft cabin air systems . It's on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/75...g-us-sick.html

In the frame are British Aerospace 146, the Boeing 757, the Airbus A319 and the Embraer 145 -though I can think of a couple of other aircraft where there's a distinct whiff of my granny's old paraffin stove. However the real menace is said to be toxic additives to engine lubricant.

..So if anyone has suffered nausea and headaches on the flight deck then the BBC's Panorama on March 3 might be worth watching.
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 18:09
  #128 (permalink)  
 
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with ref to the above mentioned article can someone explain to me how fuel and hydraulic fluid is able to enter the air system?
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 18:34
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"Air is drawn out of the compression section of the engine and cooled. It then enters the cabin, where it mixes with recirculated air that has passed through filters designed to remove bacteria and viruses. These “recirculated air” filters do not remove any fumes or vapours from the engine. So if engine oil or hydraulic fuel leaks, because of poorly designed or faulty seals, or even over-filled tanks, toxic chemicals can contaminate the air supply. "

On page one!
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 19:44
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I don't know how fuel or hydraulic fluid can enter the air supplied to the cabin. The usual culprit is engine oil from the No 1 bearing at the front of the compressor on a typical gas turbine. The No 1 bearing has to be well sealed as it is operating in a vacuum thus any oil leaks would result in contaminating the cabin air supply after being drawn through the compressor. I would suggest that the seals mainly leak through wear and tear.
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 22:36
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Re how hydraulic fluid can contaminate the air, I believe on the MD-80 series the hydraulic drain is forward of the APU intake, so the fluid can get sucked into the APU
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 23:09
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Whose bits are to blame?

I'm not an expert, but surely this problem is associated with the engine type rather than the aircraft type. So which engines are to be avoided?

I'm still not an expert, but surely it is a sealing problem in the engine - so whose oil seals are to blame?

And in one case I know of, the first exposure was unpleasant, but the second triggered an allergic reaction. End of career - since a third exposure could be fatal.

And serious thoughts about that pilot ever travelling as a long haul passenger.
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Old 23rd Feb 2008, 23:11
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I believe this website: http://www.welcomeaboardtoxicairlines.com/ looks at the same problems.
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Old 24th Feb 2008, 09:30
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And what about de-icing fluids ?
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Old 24th Feb 2008, 11:21
  #135 (permalink)  
 
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I posted on an article about the same subject that was reported on in the Daily Mail on the 8th February 2008, but the thread was moved to SLF. Shame because this report was specifically about a pilot who had been retired on health grounds due, he suspected, to toxins in the planes air supply.

The thread is here - http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=312701

Definitely worth reading the Daily Mail and Telegraph article - and I shall watch the Panorama program as well.

What is of course annoying here is that the whole thing is being covered up by the airlines and governments! Proof by covert testing and numerous reportings of toxic air are just being swept under the carpet by the CAA and the UK gov for starters!!
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Old 24th Feb 2008, 23:31
  #136 (permalink)  
 
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The biggest culprit is the oil used to lube the aircycle machines. Ask your friendly mobil rep about the benefits of consuming it.
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Old 26th Feb 2008, 02:10
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Nowadays don’t most ACMs use air bearings and therefore offer little likelihood of contamination?

The person who is involved welcomeaboardtoxicairlines.com refers to a colleague that has suffered immeasurable damage. This colleague is rumoured to be his wife and they tried something very similar in Australia. After a recent article written in the Mail I note he used a fictitious crash to support his argument, which I hardly feel is credible journalism.

Could it therefore be assumed that there is actually an element of scare mongering and hysteria surrounding this? Appreciated that we are looking at machines that will have componentry failure, so there is a risk – but is it as prevalent as reported?
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Old 26th Feb 2008, 16:37
  #138 (permalink)  
 
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Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines Film in UK

I am new to PPRune but as a PPL holder I thought you would like to know that the film made by a BA Captain 'Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines' which I saw in Derry last November is to be screened in UK cinemas starting in London on 9 March.

See http://www.welcomeaboardtoxicairlines.com for details.

The film is first class, I learnt alot from it.

Sheery
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Old 26th Feb 2008, 18:47
  #139 (permalink)  
 
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Unhappy Toxic bleed air in airliners

This little video should probably justify some salary increase for another health issue that we face in this job as airline crews.

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-...ml?nvid=221600
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Old 27th Feb 2008, 18:19
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Not wishing to divert the topic, but it is related to our helath. Radiation. I read some reports in mid-90's conducted by German & Italian pilot unions. They had massive amounts of data that there was a serious risk which needed attention. Evidently the Germans had taken experts into the cockpits and their meters went off the clock at CRZ levels. Meters that were set for ground based workers' exposure levels. Somewhere there is a big carpet under which all that was swept. It was muted that LH might shield the cockpits, but if the pax found out there would be an uprising. This, and the latest fumes issue; the response afforded by CAA's and goverments is drisery. It's too costly & inconvenient, so lets forget about it. The mega bucks spent on other less important but higher profile ground based issues is a joke. Often a complete waste of tax-payers' money, but a good vote winner.

Cynical? Damned right!
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