It’s sometimes very difficult to establish the exact source of the smoke or fumes but more often than not - the usual source is contaminated Cabin air supplied to the aircraft cabin via the aircraft engines. Sometimes it can be an electrical/maintenance issue. This information is very difficult to come by because airlines do not want it made public knowledge. All details held have been passed to the CAA/FAA/BFU/BEA/EASA for them to investigate. There is the possibility that not all events and incidents are being reported by airlines to the relevant authorities. There has been a significant rise in the number of onboard Fume & Smoke Events. Why is this happening? 03/12/17 BA 1324/5 London LHR/Newcastle ‘Odour Event’ The return flight BA 1325 Newcastle/London was cancelled. 03/12/17 BA 561 London LHR/Milan Linate ‘Cockpit Fume Event’ The return flight to London was cancelled. 03/12/17 WN 4046 (Southwest Airlines) Sacramento/Santa Ana ‘Burning Odour in Cabin’ Diverted to Los Angeles. 04/12/17 BA 149 London LHR/Beirut ‘Burning Odour in Cabin’ Landed safely in Beirut. 08/12/17 UA 1048 (United Airlines) Newark/Cancun ‘Smoke in Cockpit’ Returned to Newark. 09/12/17 BA 292 Washington/London LHR ‘Fumes in Cabin’ Aircraft met by Fire Services at LHR on arrival. Landed Safely. 10/12/17 FX 49 (Fedex Freighter) Anchorage/Taipei ‘Smoke in Cockpit’ Diverted to Tokyo. 10/12/17 BA 028 Hong Kong/London LHR ‘Fumes in Cockpit & Cabin’. Landed safely at LHR. 11/12/17 BA 149 Mumbai/London LHR ‘Smoke & Fumes in Cabin’. Diverted to Baku (Azerbaijan). Later reported as smoke and fumes from a wine chiller in the First Class Galley. A circuit breaker was pulled by the crew and the smoke dissipated but the fumes continued which prompted the diversion. Passengers were stranded until a replacement aircraft was sent to Baku to collect them. 12/12/17 BA 1469 Inverness/London ‘Odour Event’ Landed safely at LHR. 13/12/17 U2 4557 (EasyJet) Berlin/Copenhagen ‘Smell of Smoke in Cockpit’ Returned to Berlin. 13/12/17 MQ/AA 3478 (Envoy/American Airlines) Champaign IL/Chicago) ‘Fumes in Cockpit’ Returned to Champaign.