British Airways A320 at London on Jan 2nd 2020, fumes take out first officer
Last Update: January 13, 2020 / 16:23:10 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jan 2, 2020
Classification
Accident
Airline
British Airways
Flight number
BA-633
Departure
Athens, Greece
Destination
London Heathrow, United Kingdom
Aircraft Registration
G-EUYM
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
On Jan 4th 2020 The Aviation Herald received information that on final approach the first officer passed out, the captain smelled the odour of old socks, immediately donned his oxygen mask, declared emergency and continued for a safe landing. Passengers and cabin crew remained unaware until after landing.
On Jan 5th 2020 The Aviation Herald received more details: On approach to Heathrow the captain noticed the odour of dirty old socks, the first officer, pilot flying, did not smell anything. The captain believes the odour is dissipating. Then the first officer started breathing heavily, slumps forward and no longer responds to questions by the captain. The captain therefore takes control, dons his oxygen mask, declares Mayday, configures the aircraft for landing and lands safely. After landing, in care by medical staff, the first officer recovers.
On Jan 6th 2020 the airline issued a statement: "The Captain landed the aircraft safely, and customers disembarked as normal. As the First Officer was feeling unwell, he was seen by an airport paramedic as a precaution, before going home."
On Jan 13th 2020 the AAIB reported the flight crew became aware of smell/fumes on the flight deck about 10 minutes prior to landing. The first officer became unwell and fainted. Both flight crew went onto oxygen, Mayday was declared. After safe landing the flight crew sought medical attention. The AAIB rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation.
The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Heathrow for about 108 hours (about 4.5 days) after landing before returning to service.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jan 2, 2020
Classification
Accident
Airline
British Airways
Flight number
BA-633
Departure
Athens, Greece
Destination
London Heathrow, United Kingdom
Aircraft Registration
G-EUYM
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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