Jets cabins to be tested for fumes after warnings

THE cabins of commercial jets will be tested for toxic fumes after a report called for a probe into whether pilots are being disorientated by poor quality air.

The move follows warnings from pilots and academics that cabin fumes are an under-reported problem.

Experts say there was a “large body of anecdotal and descriptive evidence” linking ill-health among crew with poor air quality, but further work was needed to show if there was a definite link.

The report recommended that thousands of flights should be tested on a range of aircraft for the presence of harmful fumes such as carbon monoxide, although it said it was “not possible to conclude” that there was a causal link to ill-health.

The airline pilots’ union, Balpa in London, maintains that air crew have been made ill by air being sucked in through jet engines, becoming contaminated with oil fumes, and then pumped on board through air ventilation systems.

Its complaints have focused on two aircraft in particular: the BAe 146 and the Boeing 757.

Balpa, which had compiled a dossier of 770 reports of cabin fume incidents over 20 years, has welcomed the report.

The UK committee on toxicity’s report follows a recent study which found that 27 commercial jet pilots had suffered memory loss and cognitive failure corresponding with symptoms of exposure to toxic organophosphates.

The study by Sarah Mackenzie-Ross, a neuro-psychologist from University College London, revealed that pilots had suffered memory lapses, fatigue and dizziness.

Some pilots could not retain instructions from air traffic controllers and, in one case, forgot to lower landing gear until a colleague intervened.

“If pilots are cognitively impaired, it is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Dr Mackenzie-Ross. “These symptoms have also been reported by other occupational groups exposed to toxic organophosphates.”