British Airways A320 near London on Feb 10th 2019, fumes in flight deck and cabin

Last Update: July 30, 2020 / 14:56:40 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of British Airways G-EUUP, Airbus A320 — British Airways G-EUUP, Airbus A320 (Photo credit: airlines470 / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 10, 2019

Classification
Accident

Airline
British Airways

Flight number
BA-993

Departure
Berlin Tegel, Germany

Destination
London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
G-EUUP

Aircraft Type
Airbus A320

ICAO Type Designator
A320

A British Airways Airbus A320-200, registration G-EUUP performing flight BA-993 from Berlin Tegel (Germany) to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was enroute at FL360 near Amsterdam when the crew reported that there had been fumes briefly on the flight deck, which quickly dissipated, however, strong fumes occurred in the cabin prompting cabin crew to don their smoke hoods, one cabin crew became sick. The aircraft continued to London for a safe landing on runway 27R.

Sources tell The Aviation Herald, that there had been a fume event also on the outbound flight BA-992 from Heathrow to Tegel.

The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground at Heathrow Airport for about 26 hours, then resumed service.

On Jul 30th 2020 the AAIB released their final report into another occurrence, see Accident: British Airways A320 at London on Sep 23rd 2019, smoke in cabin, however, included this event in that report stating:

During the cruise over France on route to Heathrow the purser reported that one of the cabin staff had noticed an unusual odour in the rear galley area. It was described as being similar to “cheesy feet” and that initially it was quite a strong smell but had become less pronounced. It only seemed to be apparent in the rear galley area and had made one of the cabin staff feel “heady”. One of the passengers, who had been in that area also commented on it. The other passengers in the main cabin appeared not to have noticed anything unusual.

The exact source of the smell could not be identified and as a precaution the commander initiated the smoke and fumes abnormal and emergency procedures. As the flight deck was not affected, the pilots decided not to go onto oxygen. An option to divert was also considered and preparations were made should it have been necessary.

The odour appeared to have dissipated to the extent it was barely detectable. However, one member of the cabin crew still felt unwell and moved to the flight deck to see if her condition improved. In the meantime, the odour appeared to return, and a second cabin crew member started to feel unwell. The commander declared a PAN to air traffic control, proceeded to Heathrow and landed without further incident.

The presence of the fire service and paramedics prompted the commander to inform the passengers about the situation and that the crew had been dealing with an issue. The passengers disembarked as normal with no comment being made. Paramedics attended to the crew member who was feeling unwell. During the wait, some of the cabin crew commented on varying degrees of itchy eyes and sore throats. No odours or symptoms were experienced on the flight deck.

After carrying out the troubleshooting process the No 1 engine was replaced.