‘Plane truth’ on toxic fumes plea

Unite has told British Airways to stop classifying the release of toxic fumes into plane cabins as ‘odour events’ and warned that downplaying such incidents risks masking an industry-wide problem.

The call was made after more details emerged about an emergency landing in Vancouver last week by a British Airways (BA) flight en route to Heathrow from San Francisco, after crew members began vomiting and had to don oxygen masks following the release of fumes mid-air. Twenty seven people were taken to hospital and later released.

BA has labelled the incident an “odour event”, however the flight crew told air traffic control that “toxic fumes, toxic gas-like fumes” were escaping into the cabin. A recording of the exchange was released online and can be listened to here.

A passenger onboard the flight, Steve Lowy, photographed paramedics as they entered the plane. He said although BA sent him a letter apologising for the inconvenience the emergency landing caused, the company omitted any mention of fumes.

A similar incident occurred just a day later on October 26 on-board a BA flight to Los Angeles, with the company once again dismissing the problem as an “odour event”, Unite has been informed. The union understands that a full fume drill was carried out, which would have involved crew putting on oxygen masks.

Serious

Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett said, “It is clear from all the reports we’ve received and the exchanges between the flight deck and air traffic control that the incident on board the diverted BA flight from San Francisco to London Heathrow was more serious than a mere ‘odour event’.

“Downplaying serious toxic fume events on board aircraft as ‘odour events’ smacks of spin and an attempt to manipulate official statistics to downplay how widespread the problem really is in the industry.”

BA said it is conducting “thorough and detailed investigations” which it is sharing with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Unite, which represents more than 20,000 cabin crew throughout the industry, has been leading the campaign over cabin air quality and is calling for a public inquiry into the release of engine fumes on board flights.

The union is also taking legal action on behalf 67 crew members whose health has been damaged by aerotoxic syndrome – a condition the industry refuses to recognise.

The syndrome caused the 2012 death of former BA pilot Richard Westgate. The coroner who investigated his death, Sheriff Stanhope Payne, wrote to BA and the CAA, warning that action needed to be taken to avoid further deaths.

Unite member Mathew Bass, who died in 2014, was also found to have died from ‘chronic exposure to organophosphates’, which is added to jet engine oil.

Unite is calling on the CAA to release figures on fume incidents and investigate how airlines classify ‘fume events’, as well as urging people who have been involved in a fume event to record it on Unite’s dedicated fume register or phone its hotline number 03330 146569.

Howard Beckett added, “Fume events and continued exposure to contaminated cabin air can lead to serious ill health with long term debilitating effects on people’s wellbeing.

“Brushing these serious incidents under the carpet is shameful and we urge the CAA to investigate and for people involved in fume events to use our register or phone our hotline.”

Have you been affected by fume events? Click here for more on the fume register or phone Unite’s hotline number, 03330 146569.