Sunday November 18,2012
By Ted Jeory
Two weeks ago Captain
Tristan Loraine, a former British Airways pilot who retired on medical
grounds in 2006, sat at his computer to type the email he had been
hoping to send for years. He and fellow medically-retired air crew he
had spent the past few years trying to expose what they believe is one
of the great global scandals of our times: that the air on passenger
jets is not always safe.
Then last month Professor Clement
Furlong, an expert in biochemistry and organophosphates at the
University of Washington in Seattle, gave them their Eureka moment. His
research showed there are more potentially dangerous toxins in jet
engine oil than previously thought, poisons which can contribute to
nausea, dizziness and long-term physiological damage.
For Mr
Loraine and the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive, a coalition he
assembled from crew unions, the findings are “exceedingly significant”
because oil leaks can contaminate cabin air.
Mr Loraine, a former
official in British Airline Pilots’ Association, which he accuses of
cowardly keeping quiet on the matter, said: “On May 1, 2001, I got a
call that changed my life. A colleague told me he had been exposed to
contaminated air and collapsed, would lose his job and asked me to
investigate. I was a union rep and so I did.
“With the support of many unions and individuals, today, 11 years after my telephone call, here we have a new major victory.”
The
issue is one of the most controversial but least publicised in the
airline industry, which dismisses Mr Loraine and others as conspiracy
theorists. Largely unknown to passengers, pilots don oxygen masks
mid-flight at least once a month after being affected by fumes entering
the cockpit and cabin. In some cases, Mayday calls have been sent,
emergency landings made and crews ferried to hospital.
The
episodes, recorded by the Civil Aviation Authority as “fume events”, are
caused by what many believe is a fundamental design flaw . In almost
all jets, unfiltered air is circulated via a “bleed” system . Air is
sucked in through the engines, into a compressor unit then into a pipe
to the cabin.
That air is recycled every few minutes but problems
occur when small amounts of oil leak during the bleeding process. Worn
or faulty bearing seals can make the leaks worse. To withstand the high
temperatures of jet engines, lubricants are made of synthetic compounds
such as the organophosphate TCP . At high temperatures and pressures,
the chemical make-up can change to produce potentially dangerous toxins.
Professor Furlong has found more harmful toxins in the oil than previously thought .
Mr
Loraine and Dr Susan Michaelis, a former pilot who researched her PhD
on the issue after having to retire on medical grounds, say it further
validates Aerotoxic Syndrome, a chronic condition resulting from
exposure to “fume events” which is not yet recognised by doctors.
They
say pilots and cabin crew are more vulnerable than passengers because
they fly far more but even single exposures can be harmful depending on
the genetic make-up of the individual.
The Sunday Express has
seen footage of one episode during a flight in the US, while two years
ago, American television filmed a pilot being stretchered off a plane.
Both he and his co-pilot lost their medical licences to fly and four of
the cabin crew have still not returned to work.
Airlines insist
they comply with air quality standards but two settlements have been
secured by former cabin crew in the US and Australia. In both cases
airlines and manufacturers refused to admit general liability. Such an
admission could see exceedingly expensive litigation. Boeing’s new 787
Dreamliner, however, does not use a bleed air system.
Professor
Furlong said : “Airlines never let the passengers know they have been
exposed to anything, so if they experience symptoms following a flight,
their doctors would not have a clue what might be wrong.” However,
Professor Michael Bagshaw, a former head of health at BA, highlights a
study by Cranfield University in Buckinghamshire last year . It found no
dangers.
Professor Bagshaw, listed as an adviser to Airbus, has
his own theory about why pilots often rely on oxygen masks. He says in
many cases they are exhibiting the “classic” symptoms of
hyperventilation due to stress. They smell the fumes, they become
fearful and panic.
Mr Loraine said: “When I had my emergency
landings in Heathrow and stood and watched passengers getting off, some
coughing, some with paper up their noses due to the fumes, were they all
mass hyperventilating ?” He hopes the airlines will move away from
bleed air systems but for now wants them to use safer lubricants.
When
the Sunday Express asked Virgin and BA for written assurances that
inhaling heated jet engine oil fumes is totally safe, neither would
answer directly.
Virgin replied: “The health, safety and
wellbeing of our passengers and crew is our top priority. As with all
British airlines we operate to the strict regulations and standards set
out by the CAA and the European Aviation Safety Industry.”
BA said: “We would not operate an aircraft if we believed it posed a health or safety risk to our customers or crew.
“The
cockpit/cabin is the normal place of work of more than 13,000 cabin
crew members and 3,000 pilots employed by British Airways and we see no
trends in sickness rates which would indicate a link with cabin air
issues.”
Dr Rob Hunter, a former pilot and head of safety and
security at Balpa, said: “The cabin is vulnerable to engine fume
contamination because there is no filter. It is a problem [but] it is a
problem of how the argument is presented.
“It is a very odd thing about this debate how much is put forward by people other than toxicologists.”
A
CAA spokesman said: “We will continue to work closely with the airline
industry to maintain safety standards on board UK aircraft.”
Source: http://www.express.co.uk
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