Lufthansa A321 at London on Oct 21st 2012, fumes in cabin

Last Update: May 9, 2013 / 15:26:51 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Lufthansa D-AIRX, Airbus A321 — Lufthansa D-AIRX, Airbus A321 (Photo credit: Anhedral / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Oct 21, 2012

Classification
Incident

Airline
Lufthansa

Aircraft Registration
D-AIRX

Aircraft Type
Airbus A321

ICAO Type Designator
A321

The United Kingdom's AAIB released their bulletin into the serious incident releasing following summary:

The investigation was inconclusive in that a source of the apparent contamination of the cabin and flight deck air was not found, despite the detailed analysis of residues and the medical examinations of the affected members of the crew. This event thus joins a growing number of cases in which there has been a similar lack of conclusive evidence as to the cause(s) of aircraft cabin air quality issues.

The AAIB reported the first officer noticed a strong odour in the cockpit accompanied by eye and throat irritation when the aircraft descended through FL120 on approach to Heathrow Airport. The commander checked with cabin crew who also confirmed an odour in the cabin. The first officer started to feel dizzy and nauseous prompting both flight crew to don their oxygen masks and request a priority landing into Heathrow. The aircraft touched down within 10-15 minutes after the onset of smell, vacated the runway and stopped on the adjacent parallel taxiway, where engines and air conditioning systems were shut down. After engine shut down the situation in the cabin improved, a few passengers reported minor throat irritation. The first officer was still dizzy and nauseous, all crew members complained about eye and throat irritation, all were taken to a hospital and released a couple of hours later after blood tests revealed no medical findings. The crew returned to Frankfurt and again went to a hospital, where further tests also revealed no findings.

The aircraft underwent extensive tests for traces of oil, salts, sulphur with just minor findings which compared to findings on another aircraft of similiar operating hours with no odour, flight deck and cabin lights were checked for function and odour with no findings, the circulation fans, recirculation and avionices filters were checked again without any finding out of the ordinary. Equipment in galleys and lavatories was checked again without identfying anything out of the ordinary.

During the subsequent ferry flight to Frankfurt cabin air was measured by an analyser with no findings, after landing in Frankfurt the engines were checked with borescopes which revealed an old bird strike debris in the compressor stages 3 and 4 of the right hand engine unrelated to the fumes event however and no other findings.

The AAIB concluded their bulletin: "In the United Kingdom, a Civil Aviation Authority analysis of Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) indicated that â€˜fume eventsâ€™ occur on approximately 0.05% of all commercial passenger and cargo flights. In most cases the effects on aircrew take the form of â€˜acuteâ€™ symptoms, such as eye and throat irritation, as experienced by the crew of D-AIRX, although long term health issues have been recorded. However, inconsistent reporting is thought to have affected the quality of the evidence. It is also worth noting that in tests where measurements of contaminants have been taken, the concentration is invariably well below internationally agreed levels for occupational exposure."