Lufthansa A319 at Paris and Frankfurt on Aug 5th 2016, fumes injure 3 cabin crew

Last Update: June 12, 2019 / 16:39:34 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Lufthansa D-AILU, Airbus A319 — Lufthansa D-AILU, Airbus A319 (Photo credit: BriYYZ / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Aug 5, 2016

Classification
Accident

Airline
Lufthansa

Flight number
LH-1053

Departure
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France

Destination
Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Aircraft Registration
D-AILU

Aircraft Type
Airbus A319

ICAO Type Designator
A319

A Lufthansa Airbus A319-100, registration D-AILU performing flight LH-1053 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Frankfurt/Main (Germany), was preparing for departure. When the engines were started a strong odour developed in forward part of the cabin, the odour was reported to the cockpit. The aircraft continued for departure and took off Charles de Gaulle's runway 27L. About 10 minutes after becoming airborne the flight attendant in the aft cabin advised of feeling unwell with respiratory problems. The flight attendants in the forward cabin also felt unwell, the cockpit was informed that all flight attendants were increasingly unwell. The aircraft continued climb to cruise FL270. Descending into Frankfurt the fumes became stronger, all flight attendants felt seriously ill. The aircraft landed on Frankfurt's runway 25R about 40 minutes after departure from Paris. All cabin crew were taken to a hospital and are still on sick leave (standing Oct 25th 2016, 81 days after the occurrence).

Germany's BFU told The Aviation Herald: "Der Vorfall am 05.08.2016 der BFU am 09.08.2016 gemeldet. Nach intensiver Auswertung der vorliegenden Informationen ist keine Untersuchung eingeleitet worden, da der Vorfall entsprechend der für die BFU geltenden Regularien und Gesetze weder als schwere Störung oder als Flugunfall klassifiziert wurde." Translation: The occurrence of Aug 5th 2016 was reported to the BFU on Aug 9th 2016. Following extensive evaluation of available information no investigation was opened because the occurrence was not rated a serious incident or accident according to regulations and laws applying to the BFU.

On Jun 6th 2019 The Aviation Herald received a photo of a letter the Aeromedical Service wrote to one of the flight attendant of this flight (see the photo below, initially it was believed this letter was written to one of the flight attendants on LH-731 of Jan 11th 2016, see Accident: Lufthansa A346 enroute on Jan 11th 2016, fumes on board). Lufthansa's Aeromedical Service issued a certificate to be used with insurances to confirm the flight attendant is permanently unfit to fly since Jan 27th 2017 with the diagnosis of "respiratory insufficiency (J96.09G)", "illness of respiratory organs caused by chemical substances/gasses/smoke (J68.9G)", "Small fiber neuropathy (G62.88G)", "minor cognitive disturbance (F06.7G)", "irritable bowel syndrome (K58.9G)", "toxic effect of organic solvents (T52.9G)" and "post-traumatic stress disorder (F43.1G)".

On Jun 12th 2019 Germany's BFU responded to our new inquiry of Jun 6th 2019 introducing the new evidence received by the AVH: "Weiterhin handelt es sich bei dem gemeldeten Ereignis nicht um einen Unfall oder eine Schwere Störung." (The reported event is still not an accident or serious incident)