Thanks to input from Charlie Bass, father of Matt Bass (Cabin Crew) who died suddenly on 30th January 2014 aged 35.
The Aviation Industry wants you to believe it is open and transparent on safety related issues but in reality their actions are very closed and veiled. They, the airlines, regulators and aircraft manufacturers want you to believe that your safety, well-being and health are their priority when you travel onboard an aircraft.
Sadly, as we have already seen from the Boeing 737-Max enquiry and the FAA’s lack of involvement in certification and in protecting people, that industry and profits come first.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-airplane-safety/democratic-lawmakers-question-faa-decisions-on-boeing-safety-issues-idUSKBN1XH2XU
Our campaign is on a different safety related matter, but one that can also seriously affect the safety of an aircraft as well as the health, safety and well-being of passengers and crew. It’s regarding the contaminated air onboard aircraft which is acknowledged by the aviation industry (after many years of denial) and is caused by the(known)faulty bleed-air design whereby air is bled-off from the aircraft engines to provide the breathing air onboard. (This air contains contamination from oil and hydraulic fluid - known to be very harmful to health).
The aviation industry acknowledge that short-term health effects may occur as a result of exposure. However, the long-term health effects which many thousands of people are suffering - along with the deaths of many pilots and cabin crew are still denied by airlines, manufacturers and regulators from being caused by the known contaminated air onboard aircraft.
Questions:
Why are harmful, toxic fumes even permitted to leak into aircraft cockpits and cabins?
Why is the air on passenger aircraft (except the B787) drawn straight from the aircraft engines and into the cockpit and cabin without being filtered first?
Why are there no Carbon Monoxide detectors onboard?
Why is there no monitoring equipment onboard to alert pilots and crew?
The very FACT that pilots have to use emergency oxygen because of fumes in cockpits should be an issue of great concern. Fumes that can and HAVE affected the cognitive function of pilots in-flight should be a safety issue very high on everyone’s agenda.
But the Pilots remain silent. Cabin Crew also remain silent. Why?
Because their employment contracts with their airline forbid them to speak to anyone outside of the industry about any safety related issue. By speaking about it, they would probably be targeted, penalised or even sacked. So, how does that promote an environment of openness & transparency? It doesn’t. It just keeps the status quo.
News report - 13 December 2019.
The crew member who averted a possible disaster was too frightened to report on the airline’s internal reporting system:
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/plane-ice-snow-wings-flight-danger-cabin-crew-civil-aviation-authority-a9245106.html
“The CAA added that the cabin-crew member had not used the airline’s own reporting system “as they felt that they may be penalised for reporting to the company”.
This is really happening in 2019.
A ‘CULTURE OF FEAR’ has been created by management within certain airlines and because of this, the CAA have found it necessary to introduce a confidential and anonymous reporting scheme because airline crew are actually worried about repercussions from their employers (airlines) for reporting safety related incidents.
This is one of the biggest problems today in aviation.
But what does this tell you about the way the aviation industry operates?
From 2016:
https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/why-is-the-eu-sealing-aviation-safety-records.html
Why does EASA not want the public to know about aircraft safety?
What do they have to hide?
It’s a similar issue in the UK with the CAA who refuse to release information regarding the use of oxygen masks by pilots (during fume events) on UK registered aircraft:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/484422/response/1173998/attach/html/3/20180615F0003715InternalReviewLetter.pdf.html
The CAA will not release this information stating:
‘The CAA takes its responsibility regarding this regulation very seriously as it is recognised that such data is highly valuable to maintaining and improving flight safety as is the importance of not undermining reporting culture through the inappropriate use of this data.’
‘The CAA does not release any data relating to occurrences unless it will be used specifically for the purposes of improving or maintaining flight safety.’
We are trying to obtain this data most definitely to improve flight safety and to bring an end to the poisoning onboard aircraft of innocent passengers and airline crew from the harmful toxins in engine oil and hydraulic fluid. We want to remove the possibility of pilots becoming incapacitated and the possibility of an aircraft crashing because of it. We know the numbers of fume events occurring, but do the CAA? We know of and have evidence of pilots becoming incapacitated in flight - do the CAA have this information and evidence? Are they informed by the airlines? That’s what we are trying to find out.
The CAA, like all regulators, is funded by the industry it regulates and has stated to us in writing "fume events are extremely rare". The AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Branch) an independent government agency funded by public money, has stated to us that "fume events are not infrequent".
As all reports relating to fume events go to the CAA and only those where flight crew have used oxygen go to the AAIB, this raises serious questions on the CAA’s public reporting of fume event numbers and the reason why they will not release data.
Sadly, as they won’t release the information there is no way of confirming if the airlines are under-reporting these incidents.
If the CAA had the same information that we have, surely they would investigate?
Therefore we can only assume that the CAA are not being informed by airlines of the numerous fume events occurring - that fume events are most certainly under-reported.
Either way, their lack of action on this issue which includes not setting regulations for the mandatory fitting of Carbon Monoxide detectors and the fitting of suitable monitoring/detection equipment onboard all bleed-air aircraft, that they are not as concerned with flight safety as they declare to be and are protecting airline bad practice.
An interview with Tim Van Beveren (Aviation Writer & Pilot) in 2016 explaining the problem:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3tFnogQA3rE
You can view many safety-related incidents here (including incidents of smoke & fumes):
www.aviationherald.com
You can read about the Aerotoxic issue, see studies & testimonies and learn more about Aerotoxic Syndrome here:
www.aerotoxicteam.com
If you want to help in the campaign for clean air onboard aircraft there are things you can do to help:
* Make a donation to The Aerotoxic Association. It’s been run on a voluntarily basis for the past 12 years. It’s helped countless numbers of passengers & crew over the years but needs urgent financial support now:
https://aerotoxic.org/
* Write to your MP/Representative - wherever you may be in the world. Tell them you expect clean filtered air to be provided onboard all passenger aircraft, along with monitoring equipment.
* Protect yourself and your family whenever you fly onboard an aircraft - until the bleed-air problem is resolved:
https://cambridgemask.com/
https://respro.com/pollution-masks
Thank You - with your continued support and involvement we CAN bring an end to Contaminated Air In Aircraft.