British Airways A320 near London on Dec 18th 2014, fumes in cockpit and cabin
Last Update: March 12, 2015 / 16:26:02 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Dec 18, 2014
Classification
Incident
Airline
British Airways
Flight number
BA-326
Departure
London Heathrow, United Kingdom
Destination
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France
Aircraft Registration
G-TTOB
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
The flight was cancelled.
The French BEA reported in their weekly bulletin that the occurrence was rated a serious incident and is being investigated by the AAIB. No injuries are being reported.
On Mar 12th 2015 the British AAIB released their bulletin reporting that hydraulic fluid leaking from a hydraulic actuator had been ingested by the air conditioning system.
The aircraft was climbing through 5000 feet when the flight crew noticed a "musty" smell in the cockpit, donned their oxygen masks and worked the related checklists. In the meantime cabin crew reported that the odour was noticed in the cabin as well and a couple of passengers reported being light headed and feeling nausea. As the check lists did not permit to identify the origin and the smell did not dissipate the crew decided to return to London, where the aircraft landed without further incident. After vacating the runway the smell had reduced sufficiently for the flight crew to remove their oxygen masks while taxiing to the apron.
Maintenance identified that a yaw damper actuator had been leaking hydraulic fluid which was ingested into the inlet of the auxiliary power unit (APU) from where the hydraulic fluid "found its way into the air conditioning system". The actuator was replaced and the decontamination conducted before the aircraft returned to service without further occurrences.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Dec 18, 2014
Classification
Incident
Airline
British Airways
Flight number
BA-326
Departure
London Heathrow, United Kingdom
Destination
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France
Aircraft Registration
G-TTOB
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source
You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.
Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!
Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.
Send tip
Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.
Related articles
Fleet type match
British Airways A320 near Prague on Jan 31st 2018, hydraulic problem
A British Airways Airbus A320-200, registration G-TTOB performing flight BA-856 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Prague (Czech Republic), was…
Fleet type match
BAW A388 over Atlantic Ocean on Dec 6th 2024, turbulence injures 2
A BAW British Airways Airbus A380-800, registration G-XLEI performing flight BA-268 from Los Angeles,CA (USA) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 277…
Fleet type match
BAW A320 at Edinburgh on Dec 8th 2025, could not fully retract landing gear
A BAW British Airways Airbus A320-200, registration G-EUUI performing flight BA-1443 from Edinburgh,SC to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was climbing out…
Fleet type match
United B772 near Edinburgh on Dec 4th 2025, burning smell in cabin
A United Boeing 777-200, registration N74007 performing flight UA-949 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to San Francisco,CA (USA) with 162 passengers and…
Fleet type match
British Airways A319 enroute on Oct 30th 2025, avionics problems, unreliable position, loss of AP and AT
A British Airways Airbus A319-100, registration G-EUPS performing flight BA-1457 from Edinburgh,SC to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was enroute at FL290…
Fleet type match
BAW A320 near Bucharest on Oct 9th 2025, fumes on board
A BAW British Airways Airbus A320-200, registration G-EUUF performing flight BA-603 from Istanbul (Turkey) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 142 people…
Newest articles
Fleet type match
Indigo A20N at Amritsar on Feb 5th 2023, engine shut down in flight
An Indigo Airbus A320-200N, registration VT-ISE performing flight 6E-5926 from Amritsar to Kolkata (India) with 122 passengers and 6 crew, was…
Hevilift AT42 at Simberi on Jan 15th 2026, runway excursion on landing
A Hevilift Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-500, registration P2-KSA performing a charter flight from Port Moresby to Simberi (Papua New Guinea)…
Subscribe today
Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.
Pick your plan and subscribePartner
ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.
SafetyScan Pro provides streamlined access to thousands of aviation accident reports. Tailored for your safety management efforts. Book your demo today
AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American AirlinesUnited
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways