On 17th July 2015 a Spirit Airlines Airbus - A319, Flight Number NK708 - Chicago/Boston Service with up to 145 passengers plus flight attendants and 2 pilots was making its descent into Boston. What happened during that descent is both shocking and alarming. What happened in the weeks that followed is a complete tragedy. Also alarming and shocking is that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) knew nothing about it until earlier this year. They were also unaware of seven other significant Fume Events at Spirit Airlines in the U.S. in which flight attendants were injured. (Two of those flight attendants died a year afterwards).
Captain James Anderberg, aged 53 was in command of the aircraft. He became incapacitated as explained by his First Officer:
“I looked over at Captain xxx and he was not sitting upright in his seat, and was in a dead stare with eyes half open. It took about three big breaths of oxygen, and a wall of thoughts hit me in the face and reality was returning. I had to force him - even grabbing his arm - to put the oxygen on, and slowly he finally did, and reality came back for him as well. We both noticed, after lifting the mask from 100% oxygen that the dirty socks smell was still there, even though we had thought it had dissipated. It struck both of us that, on the previous legs, what was transient was likely our ability to smell the fumes rather than their presence.”
Captain Anderberg went to his Doctor. Blood tests showed ‘an organophosphate type of poisoning. He also had internal bleeding’.
In the weeks that followed, some crew members noticed he had developed hand-eye coordination issues and it was reported that, ‘one day, he parked the aircraft at the gate in such a haphazard way that the ground crew had to reorient the aircraft’.
His health deteriorated further and he died on 15th September 2015.
‘DURING RESEARCH INTO THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE FUME EVENT OF JUL 17TH 2015 ON BOARD OF N519NK FOR OUR FIRST COVERAGE THE AVIATION HERALD CAME ACROSS SEVERAL QUESTIONS, ONE FOR EXAMPLE BEING, WHY NEITHER THE FAA NOR NTSB HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE OCCURRENCE.’
IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME UNTIL SUCH AN EVENT LEADS TO THE FULL INCAPACITATION OF BOTH PILOTS ONBOARD AND A SUBSEQUENT CRASH RESULTING IN BOTH HUMAN TRAGEDIES AND HUGE FINANCIAL LOSSES’. - Simon Hradecky - The Aviation Herald.
Please read the full article by Simon Hradecky- The Aviation Herald here:
http://avherald.com/h?article=4b6eb830/0006&opt=0
It is mandatory for airlines to report incidents to the FAA (in the USA) particularly when crew members or passengers have been injured - for whatever reason. Is it that Spirit Airlines failed to send their reports to the FAA or did the FAA decide not to add them to their database because of the nature of these incidents?
If the FAA were not in receipt of these incident reports (being a safety conscious organisation/administration) you would have thought that they would have been very concerned and grateful to have been informed of such incidents and would have immediately launched an investigation. Their response was (sadly) very different.
The other Spirit Airlines Fume Events - not on the FAA Database:
16/01/2016 - Flight: NK (Unknown)
San Jose Del Cabo/Dallas Fort Worth
Registration: N528NK
Flight Attendant Pamela Willeford was injured. She died February 4th 2017.
04/02/2016 - Flight: NK 8427
Fort Lauderdale/Boston
Registration: N527NK
Flight Attendant Rishi Jeethan was injured. He died July 08 2017
12/02/2016 - Flight: NK 468
Las Vegas/New Orleans
Registration: N505NK
Flight Attendant Porter Lafayette was injured and suffered chronic heart spasm (FMLA) for a year after.
25/03/2016 - Flight: NK 796
Tampa/Boston
Registration: N507NK
Flight Attendant Porter Lafayette was injured again and suffered a heart attack. He can no longer fly and now suffers with a permanent cardiac condition - the same that showed on the autopsy for Captain James Anderberg.
28/01/2018 - Flight: NK 517
Akron-Canton/Fort Lauderdale
Registration: N902NK
Crew suffered very high levels of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.
01/10/2018 - Flight: NK1411
Fort Lauderdale/Guayaquil (Equador)
Registration: N531NK
Two flight attendants underwent Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for 1 week in hospital.
This is just from ONE airline operating in the USA and there have been many other Fume Events at this airline during the past 3 years that the FAA did not have on their database.
It’s been over three years since you took your final flight Captain James Anderberg, but you will never be forgotten. We will keep fighting for justice for you and the many others who have also taken their final flights far too soon.
Rest in Peace.
If you have been involved in a Fume Event please let us know: http://fumes.dallasmcintosh.co.uk
For further information, help & advice and scientific evidence & information on Aerotoxicity and Aerotoxic Syndrome visit: http://www.aerotoxic.org