Toxic air cabin fumes won’t be probed at BA pilot’s inquest
A CORONER risked causing anger yesterday as he ruled out examining whether a British Airways pilot died as a result of years of exposure to toxic fumes in plane cabins.
Richard Westgate, 43, had long suspected he was suffering from aerotoxic syndrome triggered by chemicals in cabin air that he believed were responsible for his severe headaches, mental confusion, sight problems and insomnia.
He was found dead in a hotel room in the Netherlands in December 2012, eight months into an experimental recovery programme.
Post-mortem examinations found he died of poisoning by pentobarbital, a drug that helps to slow the nervous system, or a heart condition.
His family have long insisted his death was linked to the contamination of cabin air with compounds called organophosphates, drawn in from hot engines.
On the first day of the weeklong inquest yesterday, coroner Dr Simon Fox QC said aerotoxic syndrome would not be addressed by the hearing. He added he was aware of claims that Mr Westgate was poisoned after ‘suffering from an exposure to organophosphates in the course of his employment as a commercial pilot [but] that is not a proper issue to be examined by this inquest’.
The inquest will instead examine whether he intentionally took his own life by overdosing on pentobarbital, or whether his death was caused by lymphocytic myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle.
Airlines have denied a link between so-called ‘fume events’ and medical problems, and aerotoxic syndrome has been discredited by studies.
Yet scores of pilots and flight attendants say flying has made
‘Some sort of cover-up’
them ill, and experts have warned prolonged exposure to engine air – from which passengers are usually isolated – can lead to neurological and respiratory conditions.
After an initial investigation into Mr Westgate’s death, Sheriff Payne, the Dorset coroner, warned in 2015 of a risk of future deaths unless airlines address the problem.
Yesterday Mr Westgate’s twin Guy, also a BA pilot, claimed that his brother became ill in late 2011, having been a commercial pilot for more than 20 years.
He told Salisbury Coroner’s Court his symptoms included digestive problems, fatigue, general pain, headaches, loss of cognitive ability, and inability to sense temperature. He said his brother felt let down by doctors in Britain and left his home in Marlborough, Wiltshire, to travel to the Netherlands for treatment.
Dutch specialists diagnosed him with aerotoxic poisoning but he died during the recovery programme.
Mr Westgate said: ‘The specialists in Holland were the first group of specialists who gave him a light at the end of the tunnel – they believed in him. He went there to be cured.’
Fighting back tears, he added his brother’s pain was so severe ‘he felt his head had been tin-opened and his brain had been sandpapered’.’
The coroner’s court was packed with solicitors representing various interested parties including other airline staff.
Among those giving evidence was Richard Reynolds, another BA pilot who claims he too developed aerotoxic syndrome. He told how Mr Westgate phoned him up a week before he died and was ‘extremely angry with the way he had been treated by BA – he felt it was in BA’s best interest if he died sooner rather than later’.
Mr Westgate’s parents Judy and Peter have claimed that airlines and regulators failed to act on evidence of poisoning. Mrs Westgate, 76, said two years ago: ‘It is hard not to believe there has been some sort of cover-up.’
The inquest continues.