Emergency landing after 'fume event'

Acrid smoke filled airliner over Valencia

AIRCREW flying with British Airways believe the emergency landing made by flight BA422 at Valencia airport after the cabin filled with smoke was triggered by a ‘fume event’.

The incident is still under investigation by the Spanish air accident authorities but pilots and cabin crew working for the airline were said to have 'no doubt' it was another occasion when contaminated air was allegedly pumped into and around the aircraft.

And since the incident, some passengers on board BA422 have complained they are still experiencing breathing difficulties after the August incident.

Passengers used emergency slides to evacuate the aircraft after it landed at Valencia after thick billowing smoke filled the cabin and cockpit of the Airbus A321 as it began its descent into Manises Airport - prompting screams and panic.

However, 175 passengers, six cabin crew, and two pilots were safely transported to the terminal. Three people were taken to hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation but later released; 16 were given first aid for friction burns from the inflatable slides or treated for panic attacks.

Jávea schoolteacher Claire Hasirci was on board the flight with 14-year-old daughter Lily and told CBNews the emergency had been 'a horrifying experience'.

She described a faint smell of 'electrical burning' before the cabin 'very quickly' filled up with smoke, saying there was a cloud of 'thick yellowy grey smoke'.

Oxygen

And Claire said the crew donned oxygen masks and fireproof jackets as 'the smoke got thicker and thicker'.

Media student Bridget Hogg, 17 from Barnet, and flying to stay with friends on the Costa Blanca suffers from asthma. She described how it became 'difficult to breathe' as the smoke came in from the top of the cabin.

Other passengers have been in contact with the BBC - which is investigating ‘aerotoxic syndrome’ - complaining of lasting side effects.

One 40-year-old from Glasgow said she was now breathless walking up hills - as a nonsmoker she said she had never had any health concerns. Since referred to a respiratory specialist, she said: “It must be directly attributable to that flight and what I inhaled.”

A fellow passenger said he has throat sores and often struggles breathing.

A regular at the gym, he said his performance had 'fallen off a cliff' - a third passenger described “a chemical smell”.

British Airways said it could not comment ahead of the results of the Spanish investigation into flight BA422 but continued to support passengers.

And in a statement, the airline said it would never operate an aircraft if it believed 'it posed any health or safety risk to customers or crew.”'

Extreme

The flight to Valencia was described by BA aircrew as an extreme example and told the BBC of less severe cases. They have not been confirmed as such incidents but potential examples of fume events.

The airline insists safety always remained a priority and staff were encouraged to report any examples - it said fume events could be caused by a number of issues including burnt food in the oven, aerosols, e-cigarettes, strongsmelling foodstuffs in cabin bags and de-icing fluid.

British Airways said all reports were passed to the Civil Aviation Authority but fume events are a growing international concern.

Air on virtually every model of aircraft - except the Boeing 787 - is sucked in from the atmosphere via the engines, compressed, before flowing into the cabin. Scientists say the system can also mean oil and engine fumes can be circulated through the aircraft.

And in March this year, the union Unite served legal notice on five major British airlines BA, EasyJet, Thomas Cook, Jet2, and Virgin Atlantic - after claiming pilots and cabin crew were regularly exposed to toxic fumes.

The airlines maintain there is no evidence of long term ill health arising from air quality and they complied with industry standards.

But the union said independent expert findings showed long term exposure could lead to chronic health problems and believes the industry should not continue to hide from the issue of 'toxic cabin air'.