{"id":10459,"date":"2016-11-04T12:42:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T12:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10459"},"modified":"2016-11-07T16:59:17","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T16:59:17","slug":"plane-truth-on-toxic-fumes-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10459","title":{"rendered":"‘Plane truth’ on toxic fumes plea"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Unite has told British Airways to stop classifying the release of toxic fumes into plane cabins as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098odour events\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and warned that downplaying such incidents risks masking an industry-wide problem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/a>. Twenty seven people were taken to hospital and later released.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BA has labelled the incident an \u00e2\u20ac\u015bodour event\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, however the flight crew told air traffic control that \u00e2\u20ac\u015btoxic fumes, toxic gas-like fumes\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 were escaping into the cabin. A recording of the exchange was released online and can be listened to here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bodour event\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, Unite has been informed. The union understands that a full fume drill was carried out, which would have involved crew putting on oxygen masks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Serious <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite director of legal services Howard Beckett said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is clear from all the reports we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve 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 \u00e2\u20ac\u0098odour event\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDownplaying serious toxic fume events on board aircraft as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098odour events\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 smacks of spin and an attempt to manipulate official statistics to downplay how widespread the problem really is in the industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BA said it is conducting \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthorough and detailed investigations\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 which it is sharing with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union is also taking legal action on behalf 67 crew members whose health has been damaged by aerotoxic syndrome<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a condition the industry refuses to recognise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite member Mathew Bass<\/a>, who died in 2014, was also found to have died from \u00e2\u20ac\u0098chronic exposure to organophosphates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, which is added to jet engine oil.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite is calling on the CAA to release figures on fume incidents and investigate how airlines classify \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fume events\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, as well as urging people who have been involved in a fume event to record it on Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dedicated fume register<\/a> or phone its hotline number 03330 146569.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Howard Beckett added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFume events and continued exposure to contaminated cabin air can lead to serious ill health with long term debilitating effects on people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wellbeing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBrushing 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.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have you been affected by fume events? Click here for more on the fume register<\/a> or phone Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hotline number, 03330 146569.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite has told British Airways to stop classifying the release of toxic fumes into plane cabins as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098odour events\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[511,290],"wps_subtitle":"Unite demands end to spin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10459"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10461,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459\/revisions\/10461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}