Odd news, Toxic Air, Radiation, safety

[scanhorse]

Hi
There is a upcoming topic about Toxic fumes and particles

Airports More Dangerous to Health than Thought

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Airports-More-Dangerous-to-Health-then-Thought-199675.shtml

And in Aircrafts

http://www.aerotoxic.org/index.php/multimedia-archive/55-newspaper-and-internet-news

Forsker Kasper Solbu har påvist giftgasser i flykabin og cockpit. Kan skade nervesystemet og utløse psykoser.

http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/05/07/nyheter/innenriks/forskning/fly/giftgasser_i_fly/16435432/

[scanhorse]

Plane forced to land by strong chemical smell 28/4

Plane forced to land moments after taking off as passengers are overcome by strong chemical smell
The Boeing 737 had just taken off from San Antonio International Airport in Texas when it was forced to return to the airport on Thursday morning. 28/4
At least four people were treated for respiratory problems, firefighters said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1MPIpLF21

http://avherald.com/h?article=43bb32d9&opt=1

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/362206-toxic-cabin-air-found-new-plane-study-telegraph.html

[scanhorse]

Toxic air ‘cover-up’ slammed by pilots

PILOTS yesterday branded a Government report into toxic engine fumes *polluting air on passenger jets an *“inexcusable whitewash”.


Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/...#ixzz1MWZqv2Rl

[scanhorse]

Nearly one third of plane accidents occur on ground

Nearly one third of plane accidents occur on ground

Nearly one-third of plane accidents worldwide occur on the ground due to poor runway designs or air traffic control miscues, the International Civil Aviation Organisation said Tuesday.
The number of accidents reached a record low number in 2010.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...#ixzz1NLnNec5B



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-...#ixzz1NLn8pYWR

[scanhorse]

Mysterious radiation may strike air passengers

Airline passengers flying through storms might have more to worry about than a little turbulence

A new study suggests that if jets pass near lightning discharges or related phenomena known as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, passengers and crew members could be exposed to harmful levels of radiation, a dose equal to that of 400 chest X-rays.
However, the likelihood of encountering these lightning events is very small, the researchers say.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34351023/ns/travel-tips/

[scanhorse]

Jet lag warning from safety group

Extremely long flights can leave travellers exhausted upon arrival and has resulted in a growing number of fatalities across the world, says Interactive Driving Systems (IDS).
For example, a couple of years ago, there was prominent case of a person who took an overnight flight from the US to the UK collected a rental car at the airport, drove tired and ended up in court after being involved in a fatal road crash.
Since that time many large organisations have reviewed and updated their policies and guidance documents on jet lag and driving.

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2011/7/26/jet-lag-warning-from-safety-group/40221/

[scanhorse]

German parliament investigates that bad smell in the cabin

The German parliament is the third national administration to investigate the aerotoxic phenomenon, otherwise known as cabin air contamination. In 2000 the Australian Senate did it and concluded there was a real issue, then the British upper chamber the House of Lords, which also decided the problem should be taken seriously.
Now, according to my sources who were present during the Bundestag committee hearing two days ago, initially sceptical members of parliament from several parties were amazed at the weight of evidence showing that cabin air contamination is a serious threat to passenger and crew health,
and also at the fact that the industry has no counter-arguments at all: just denials.


more.....................

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/learmount/2011/09/german-parliament-investigates.html

[scanhorse]

TuiFly B738 near Faro on Jul 4th 2011,!!l, oil fumes , toxic air

TuiFly B738 near Faro on Jul 4th 2011, all crew felt unwell, oil fumes suspected

The German Bureau for Aviation Accident Investigation (BFU) released their Bulletin as status report into the serious incident stating, that the engines of the aircraft had been started with the help of an air start unit because the APU was inoperative.

more............................................

http://avherald.com/h?article=43f473a1/0000&opt=6144

Another TuiFly Boeing 737-800 had suffered an oil fumes event causing partial incapacitation to the crew in March 2011, see: Incident: TUIFly B738 near Alicante on Mar 15th 2011, fumes on board, crew partially incapacitated.

[scanhorse]

Air Berlin A332 near New York and Berlin on Sep 25th and Sep 26th 2011

Air Berlin A332 near New York and Berlin on Sep 25th and Sep 26th 2011, odour causes all crew feel unwell

The crew identified the smell as oil fumes and continued the climb to FL380 where the odour reduced to bearable intensity. Several cabin crew reported headache resulting from the fumes, cockpit crew members complained about dizziness and tumb fingers causing difficulty to operate the MCDU

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=443e9a61&opt=0

A similiar occurrence spanning multiple flights had occurred with another Air Berlin A332 earlier this year, see Incident: Air Berlin A332 at Bangkok on Apr 11th 2011, departed with engine required to be changed, Incident: Air Berlin A332 near Munich on Apr 9th 2011, strong smell of oil on board and Incident: Air Berlin A332 near Munich on Apr 8th 2011, smell of oil on board.

[scanhorse]

Five flights a WEEK hit by toxic fumes: BA , UK

Five flights a WEEK hit by toxic fumes: Alerts lead to emergency landings (but passengers are kept in dark)


British airlines have been hit by toxic fumes leaking on board at a rate of five flights a week unbeknown to passengers, new figures reveal.
The Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates UK airlines received 254 reports of problems in the cabin or cockpit in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available.

The data logs emergency landings, distress calls and incidents where cabin crew have had to wear oxygen masks, the Sunday Express reported.

More...................................

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047111/British-airlines-5-flights-WEEK-hit-toxic-fumes.html

[scanhorse]

DEAD BA PILOTS 'VICTIMS OF TOXIC CABIN FUMES

TWO of British Airways’ most talented pilots have died after complaining of years of exposure to toxic oil fumes on board passenger planes.
Karen Lysakowska, 43, was buried last Tuesday, while Richard Westgate, also 43, was laid to rest four days before.
Both believed they had been poisoned by the toxic oil fumes that can contaminate cabin air and which regularly forces pilots to don oxygen masks in order to breathe.
Lawyers for Mr Westgate now want to “give him the trial he never got” by suing the airline in a case they say will be a “moment of truth” for the aviation industry.
They say they are on the cusp of proving in a court of law the existence of “aerotoxic syndrome”, a chronic physical and neurological condition they predict will one day be seen as “the new asbestos”.
Thousands of pilots are currently “unfit to fly”, one specialist doctor believes.
Official records from the Civil Aviation Authority show that oxygen masks are being donned by pilots and crew at the rate of at least five times a week to combat suspected “fume events”.
In some cases, crew members have passed out yet in almost all incidents, passengers are unaware.
The air enters the cabin unfiltered via a bleed pipe off the jet engine where any oil leak at high temperature can cause the release of a dangerous mix of compounds, including potentially toxic organophosphates.

Much more...............................

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/373594?

[scanhorse]

TOXIC AIR PLANE CRASH WARNING

PASSENGER jets risk “dropping out of the sky” because airlines refuse to fit detectors that could save pilots from poisonous cabin air, a toxicologist told the Sunday Express.
Professor Chris van Netten, former US government adviser, says the industry is putting profits before the health and safety of passengers or crew.
He says that by failing to fit monitors that can “easily” detect leaks of odourless, colourless and toxic carbon monoxide, there is always the risk that pilots could inhale fumes and be rendered incapable of safely flying the plane.
Professor van Netten, who is Canadian, is a world authority on bleed-air contamination.
He said: “Carbon monoxide is a relatively rare event but it’s an acute one that can bring an aircraft down.
“When it happens you want to know what is going on because it is incapacitating and you want to be able to flush it out.
If you can put detectors in the home, why not put them in the aircraft?”
He says they could avert “the worst situation that can make a plane drop out of the sky” and adds that fitting them as standard is “the least” airlines can do.
He claims the failure to fit detectors is symptomatic of a general attitude in the industry towards concerns over cabin air, adding: “If they were to officially admit the aircraft air was not healthy, they are in big trouble financially. They would be bankrupt.” The professor’s warning comes amid growing concern about the safety of cabin air. Last Sunday we revealed that two top British Airways pilots, Richard Westgate and Karen Lysakowska, had died within a month of each other aged 43.

much more.............................

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/375221