Pilots report nearly 40 cases of toxic cabin air

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 21:40

AIRLINES reported 38 incidents of toxic cabin air in the first six months of this year.

Earlier this year, ministers were urged to conduct a full inquiry into claims passengers and crew were being put at risk by toxic fumes leaking into plane cabins.

Campaigners claimed contaminated air from chemicals in engine fuel could cause breathing problems, nausea and fatigue, while long-term exposure might lead to brain damage.

Junior transport minister Paul Clark told MPs yesterday that pilots were required to report to the Civil Aviation Authority "contaminated air events" and that they registered 38 incidents between January and the end of June, out of 553,266 passenger and cargo flights in the same period.

Eight were on Boeing 757s, seven on Airbus A319s, six on Airbus A320s, five on Boeing 737s and 12 on various other aircraft types.

In 2008, there were 97 reported incidents of contaminated air out of about 1.2 million flights.