Mystery illness forces LA-bound plane to return to London - Polidicks

[quote] 'One of the flight attendants was walking down the aisle when she collapsed' An American Airlines flight to Los Angeles was forced to return to London Heathrow after seven flight staff and many passengers collapsed due to mysterious illness. Passengers were shocked to see flight attendants collapse in the aisles, sparking fears about contamination in the air conditioning. When Flight AA109 was airborne near Keflavik in Iceland, an announcement in the passenger cabin asked for any doctors onboard to come forward. A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed the plane turned round due to a medical emergency and said it was not security-related. [/quote] [URL]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mystery-illness-on-american-airlines-flight-to-los-angeles-forces-plane-to-return-to-heathrow-a6838461.html[/URL] Remember that fumes from the engines leak into the cabin of every jet, apart from the new 787. Usually not enough to cause too much harm, but it's one of the reasons you feel so groggy after flying. Sometimes, the seal fails completely and you end up with cases that look like this. No one has confirmed it, but it's the most likely cause given that 13 people suffered the same illness. As someone in the article comments linked: [URL]http://aerotoxic.org/about-aerotoxic-syndrome/[/URL]

[quote]Remember that fumes from the engines leak into the cabin of every jet, apart from the new 787.[/quote] What fumes? How much leaks? Do you have any citations on that?

One person actually being sick + 12 others from hysteria more likely. We'll see, though.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49625802]What fumes? How much leaks? Do you have any citations on that?[/QUOTE] [url]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266573677_AEROTOXIC_SYDROME_ADVERSE_HEALTH_EFFECTS_FOLLOWING_EXPOSURE_TO_JET_OIL_MIST_DURING_COMMERCIAL_FLIGHTS[/url] [url]https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/cabin/epaaq/epaaq-entire-report.pdf[/url] [url]http://www.nap.edu/read/10238/chapter/1#xiv[/url] [url]http://ashsd.afacwa.org/docs/AustSen.pdf[/url] The trouble is, there isn't a lot of data. There aren't any sensors on the planes to detect this, and these events only get reported when the pilots report extreme cases, so there are probably many unreported events simply because it's often undetectable Here's a counter argument, explaining the worst possible case and the unknowns: [url]http://www.asma.org/asma/media/asma/Travel-Publications/Cabin-Air-Quality-A-review-of-current-aviation-medical-understanding-Jul13.pdf[/url] [editline]28th January 2016[/editline] [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotoxic_syndrome[/url] A whole bunch of references at the bottom

Jet fuel burns super clean so I don't give a shit about the fumes. It's cleaner than car exhaust.

~*~mystery illness~*~

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;49626046]Jet fuel burns super clean so I don't give a shit about the fumes. It's cleaner than car exhaust.[/QUOTE] This is true, but the concern here is not the jet fuel itself, it's the oil that is added to the engine that burns and produces nasty fumes. The seal that is designed to separate the bleed-off air that goes into the cabin (as is designed) and these fumes is not 100% effective.

One of the passengers went diving the night before and didn't depressurize correctly resulting in the bends, the rest are hysterics. Trust me, I'm an expert, I've seen this episode of House like four times.

[QUOTE=Trumple;49625938][url]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266573677_AEROTOXIC_SYDROME_ADVERSE_HEALTH_EFFECTS_FOLLOWING_EXPOSURE_TO_JET_OIL_MIST_DURING_COMMERCIAL_FLIGHTS[/url] [url]https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/cabin/epaaq/epaaq-entire-report.pdf[/url] [url]http://www.nap.edu/read/10238/chapter/1#xiv[/url] [url]http://ashsd.afacwa.org/docs/AustSen.pdf[/url] The trouble is, there isn't a lot of data. There aren't any sensors on the planes to detect this, and these events only get reported when the pilots report extreme cases, so there are probably many unreported events simply because it's often undetectable Here's a counter argument, explaining the worst possible case and the unknowns: [url]http://www.asma.org/asma/media/asma/Travel-Publications/Cabin-Air-Quality-A-review-of-current-aviation-medical-understanding-Jul13.pdf[/url] [editline]28th January 2016[/editline] [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotoxic_syndrome[/url] A whole bunch of references at the bottom[/QUOTE] The general consensus seems to be "there is insufficient evidence to reach any conclusions". Most, if not all, incidences are based off self-reporting, which is a notoriously poor source of data. Furthermore, the fifth link you posted contained actual numbers that showed that it was simply not possible for the purported causative agent to reach dangerous levels within the cabin, which is the most compelling argument to me. Maybe I'm suffering from confirmation bias, but I'm not convinced that this is an actual, reproducible issue.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49626372]The general consensus seems to be "there is insufficient evidence to reach any conclusions". Most, if not all, incidences are based off self-reporting, which is a notoriously poor source of data. Furthermore, the fifth link you posted contained actual numbers that showed that it was simply not possible for the purported causative agent to reach dangerous levels within the cabin, which is the most compelling argument to me. Maybe I'm suffering from confirmation bias, but I'm not convinced that this is an actual, reproducible issue.[/QUOTE] Yep, I linked it as a counter argument. What its saying is that the levels do not reach dangerous levels, I.E. there is no possibility that the agents pose any immediate threat in the concentrations they are likely to be found in. However, that does not rule out all possible health effects. In the same way that you can survive in a small room filled with 100 smokers, yet you cannot rule out the possibility of negative health impacts either immediately or in the long term from undergoing such exposure.