BALPA - British Airline Pilots Association
Part of the May 2019 Publication for BALPA Members regarding contaminated air in aircraft:
https://www.aerotoxicteam.com/balpa-may-2019.html
*ASR = Air Safety Report
*MOR = Mandatory Occurrence Report
This is the link for reporting (MOR) directly to the CAA - which strangely enough no longer works:
https://www.caa.co.uk/404/?404;http://www.caa.co.uk:80/Our-work/Make-a-report-or-complaint/MOR/Mandatory-occurrence-reporting/
This is the document from 2005 BALPA Air Safety and Cabin Air Quality International Aero Industry Conference:
Or you can access it here also:
This is the link to the closing speech of the 2005 conference - by the (then) General Secretary of BALPA - Jim McAuslan:
This closing speech can be found on page 291 in the conference document above.
Fourteen years ago! What has changed? Absolutely nothing.
BALPA continue to inform their members and tell them to report the fumes.
The injuries continue.
WHO IS INFORMING THE PASSENGERS?
No one - as a passenger you are not informed that your health may have been compromised onboard an aircraft - because airlines are not required by law to divulge that there has been a Fume Event onboard. (Low-level exposure occurs on all bleed air aircraft during normal operation - due to the defective design of the bleed-air system for ventilation/air conditioning onboard).
What’s needed is honesty, transparency and the acknowledgment that there is a massive problem with toxic fumes onboard aircraft which can cause not only short term health issues but also long-term damage to human health.
This paper was published by the World Health Organisation In 2017:
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/341533/5_OriginalResearch_AerotoxicSyndrom_ENG.pdf
‘CONCLUSIONS
Aircraft air supplies contaminated by pyrolysed engine oil and other aircraft fluids can reasonably be linked to acute and chronic symptoms, findings and diagnoses, thus establishing causation. Other potential causes of symptoms have been suggested. However, these fail to recognize that:
• the design mechanism allows chronic low-level exposure to a complex mixture during both normal flight and specific incident events with confirmed leakage;
• observed effects are consistent with those of recognized hazards;
• acute effects and operational limitations reduce flight safety;
• chronic effects are common; and
• passengers occupy the same environment as crew.
Over 3.5 billion passengers and 0.5 million aircrew were exposed to low levels of engine oils in 2015 (34–36). There is an obvious need for a clearly defined internationally recognized medical protocol, occupational syndrome and disease recognition, and health and environmental data collection.’
There has been no ‘clearly defined internationally recognised medical protocol, occupational syndrome and disease recognition’, or indeed ‘health and environmental data collection’
- because if this happened it would seriously affect the airline industry., an industry which generates £millions in revenue for the Government each year.
Meanwhile those who are injured continue to suffer with an unrecognised illness, with no treatment available to them. The NHS will only treat each symptom separately and that treatment usually involves drugs which can cause complications for someone poisoned by toxic fumes.
This medical protocol has been created by fellow campaigner Bearnairdine Beaumont - former Lufthansa Purser - injured by fumes and disinsection (insecticide) spays onboard aircraft.
It is a very useful guide for both airline crew and passengers. The second link provides information for health professionals. If you are involved in a Fume Event and need medical attention please take these with you to the hospital as it might help you to get the treatment and testing required:
https://www.aerotoxicteam.com/medical.html
https://www.aerotoxicteam.com/uploads/6/0/3/8/6038702/info_doc_for_doctors_2019.pdf