Flight and Ship Pollution

Pollution from ships got attention in Europe, Los Angeles and around the globe.


In-flight toxic fume cases rise

Toxic fumes are increasingly being pumped into aircraft cabins during flights, putting the health of passengers and pilots at risk and raising the chances of an airline disaster.

Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) show that 109 flights were polluted with contaminated air in 2006 - a rise on the previous year's total of 78. This year is on course for a record number of cases after 72 were recorded in the first six months.

But there are fears that the true figures may be higher, as crews are often reluctant to report incidents for fear of management reprisals.
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Scientists estimate that 200,000 passengers a year are exposed to air contaminated with fuel vapours. Campaigners fear that such vapours could cause pilots to make deadly mistakes.

The aircraft with the worst record is the Boeing 757, the transatlantic workhorse of the industry, which suffered 43 such cases. But the BAe 146, of which fewer exist, was involved in 17 incidents, the second highest number.

Flybe airline, which flies BAe 146s from Birmingham to Belfast, has announced it is phasing out the aircraft by early next year, after a boycott by some of its crews.

Lorely Burt, the Liberal Democrat MP for Solihull, said the Government and the airline industry had to take urgent action. "Pilots, cabin crews and passengers have been made ill by toxic air in cabins and that is potentially disastrous," she said.

Fresh DfT tests on cabin air quality are expected to begin around Christmas.

A spokesman for Flybe said it was withdrawing its BAe 146s for commercial, not safety, reasons.