Toxic fumes on planes a serious threat to pilots – WSJ

Contamination can reportedly enter the cabin via a system used to heat up and pressurize outside air through the engines

Rising incidents of toxic fumes seeping into airplane cabins have caused sickness and long-term harm to pilots, flight attendants and passengers, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation of decades of industry data.

The probe drew on more than one million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA reports, thousands of documents, and over 100 interviews, the WSJ wrote on Saturday. The investigation found that airplane manufacturers and airlines had downplayed health hazards, lobbied against safety measures, and cut costs in ways that increased risks to passengers and crew.

Fume events occur when air entering the cabin via the ‘bleed air’ system – air pulled into the cabin through the engine – becomes contaminated. Leaks of engine oil, hydraulic fluids, or faulty seals can allow dangerous substances such as neurotoxins, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and others to enter the cabin.

Pilots have complained of having their vision affected and vomiting during flights, and in some cases the leaks have led to emergency landings, the WSJ wrote, citing official reports. It added that some of the worst incidents had led to long-term neurological damage and cancer, according to health professionals who had handled scores of the cases.

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The newspaper’s analysis of FAA and NASA data showed that incidents have soared in recent years, rising from about 12 per million departures in 2014 to nearly 108 per million in 2024. The actual rate is likely far higher, as the problem is severely underreported, according to the WSJ.

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Aerospace firms, airlines and regulation authorities have argued that fume events are too few, the levels of contamination too low and research on its long-term health risks too inconclusive to justify an extensive fix, the outlet claimed.

Numerous attempts by Congress to pass tighter legislation on the issue have largely failed, or passed in watered-down form, it added.

While constituting only 20% of the US air fleet, the Airbus A320 family of planes made up 80% of fume events between 2018 and 2023, according to a paper from Switzerland’s Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute earlier this year.