British airlines is accused of exposing cabin crew to breathing in fumes mixed with engine oil and other toxic chemicals like TCP, an organophosphate known to be dangerous to human health in high enough quantities. But the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says incidents of smoke or fumes on planes are rare and there is no evidence of long-term health effects.
Safety reports submitted to the CAA show that between April 2014 and May 2015 there were at least 251 separate incidents of fumes or smoke inside a large passenger jet operated by a British airline.
Pilot Richard Westgate died in December 2012, aged 43, after complaining of long-term health problems. The coroner said the body "disclosed symptoms consistent with exposure to organophosphate compounds in aircraft cabin air". A similar case is 34-year-old Matthew Bass who died in 2014.
Time to pack a gas mask when flying?
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday June 09 2015, @02:31AM
My schedule for the next month is
Manchester->London->Manchester->Exeter->Plymouth->Exeter->Manchester->London->Manchester->Singapore->Manchester->Jerusalem->Gaza->Manchester->Singapore
There might be a side-trip to Geneva fit in there, or possibly even LA (though I think I've palmed that off) but that's still 26,299 miles. Almost all of that (aside from Exeter-Plymouth on train, Plymouth to Exeter in car, Jerusalem to Gaza in taxi/golfcart/car) will be by air. Even with a hypothetical high speed rail at say 200mph, I don't have time to spend 131 hours in the next 744 travelling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @03:18AM
That would not really be practical by train, no. And I expect the Manchester to Singapore bit might get a wee bit damp.