Aircraft Cabin Air

Abstract

Table of Contents

• Own Contributions
• Papers, Presentations, Memos
• Videos
• Student Contributions
• Media Coverage (selected)
• More News
• Action
• CO Detectors
• Breathing Masks
• Links
• Films

On another page:

• Proceedings of the Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2023
• Proceedings of the Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2021
• Proceedings of the Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2019
• Proceedings of the Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2017

• Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Database
• http://corona.ProfScholz.de

Own Contributions

Book, Papers, Presentations, Memos

Author	Title	Type of Work	Delivered	No of Pages	Occasion / Purpose	Abstract	PURL/DOI	Full Text	Size
Dieter Scholz	Neue Forschung zur Kontamination von Kabinenluft	Magazin-Artikel	23.09.23	4	Gastbeitrag VC-Info (online) Gastbeitrag VC-Info 3/2023, S. 18)		https://doi.org/10.48441/4427.1110		1.1M
Dieter Scholz	Flughafen Hamburg, Airbus A321, Abbruch eines Fluges kurz nach dem Start, Kabinenluftkontamination	Press Release	06.07.23	7	News, Hintergrund und Kommentar		https://purl.org/aero/PR2023-07-06		568K
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil – Engineering Aspects	Presentation	27.06.23	36	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2023 Online, 27 - 29 June 2023		https://purl.org/cabinair/GCAQE2023		2.5M
Dieter Scholz	Forschung soll Hinweise geben zur Kontamination der Kabinenluft von Flugzeugen – Agentur der Europäischen Union für Flugsicherheit (EASA)	Press Release	30.01.23	8	State of the art after the EASA Workshop in Cologne, 17.-18.01.2023		https://purl.org/aero/PR2023-01-30		409K
Dieter Scholz	Routes of Aircraft Cabin Air Contamination from Engine Oil, Hydraulic and Deicing Fluid	Journal Paper	01.03.22	18	INCAS BULLETIN Volume 14, Issue 1 / 2022, pp. 153 – 170	---	https://doi.org/10.13111/2066-8201.2022.14.1.13		3.3M
Judith Anderson, Dieter Scholz	Oil Fumes, Flight Safety, and the NTSB	Journal Paper	10.12.21	20	Aerospace 2021, vol. 8, no. 12, art. 389, Special Issue "Aircraft Design" (SI-3/2021)	---	https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace8120389		[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Dieter Scholz	Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (ANSES) – Hearing on the Operation of Air Conditioning in Aircraft Cabins and the Associated Air Quality	Presentation	08.07.21	75	ANSES Investigation on "Air Quality in Aircraft and Health Effects on Aircrew" Hearing Prof. Scholz, Online, 2021-07-08		https://purl.org/cabinair/ANSES2021		4.5M
Dieter Scholz	Größte Konferenz über kontaminierte Luft in Flugzeugen: Zapfluftfilter und -sensoren müssen dringend in Passagierflugzeugen installiert werden	Press Release	25.03.21	6	Report about the International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2021		---		1.0M
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil – Routes of Contamination	Conference Paper	15.03.21	22	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2021 Online, 15 - 18 March 2021		https://purl.org/cabinair/GCAQE2021		4.3M
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil – An Engineering Update	Presentation	15.03.21	42	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2021 Online, 15 - 18 March 2021		https://purl.org/cabinair/GCAQE2021		2.4M
Dieter Scholz	Contaminated Aircraft Cabin Air - An Aeronautical Engineering Perspective	Presentation	18.12.20	22	Press Meeting 10 Years German Wings "Cabin Air Contamination Event" (CACE): 2010-12-19 Online, HAW Hamburg, 2020-12-18	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/HAW2020		1.4M
Dieter Scholz	Lufthansa-Rettung: Es geht nicht nur um CO2 --- Spezifische Anforderungen and die Lufthansa auch zum Thema "Kontaminierte Kabinenluft"!	Offene E-Mail	13.05.20	2	Unterstützung aus dem Bereich der Technik für Sven-Christian Kindler (MdB) and Katharina Dröge (MdB)	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/e2020-05-13		176K
Dieter Scholz	Lufthansa rescue: It's not just about CO2 --- Specific demands on Lufthansa also on the subject of "contaminated cabin air"!	Open E-Mail	13.05.20	2	Technical support for Sven-Christian Kindler (MdB) and Katharina Dröge (MdB)	---	---		171K
Dieter Scholz	Congress on Poisoned Aircraft Cabin Air - First Solutions to the Problem Become Visible	Press Release	24.09.19	6	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2019 Summary of Technical Key Findings	---	---		577K
Dieter Scholz	Cabin Air Contamination – A Summary of Engineering Arguments	Presentation	18.09.19	35	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2019 Imperial College London, 17 - 18 September 2019	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/GCAQE2019		2.2M
Dieter Scholz	Contaminated Aircraft Cabin Air - An Aeronautical Engineering Perspective	Presentation	27.05.19	60	Meeting 2019, Association des Victimes du Syndrome Aérotoxique (AVSA), Paris CDG Airport, France, 27.05.2019	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/AVSA2019		3.2M
Dieter Scholz	A Quick Introduction to the Problem of Cabin Air Contamination	Presentation	12.03.19	4	Deutscher Bundestag, Berlin, 12.03.2019	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/Parliament2019		373K
Dieter Scholz	Technical Solutions to the Problem of Contaminated Cabin Air	Presentation	05.09.18	76	Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2018, Friedrichshafen (Germany), 04.-06.09.2018		https://publikationen.dglr.de/...		4.0M
Dieter Scholz	Jet Engines – Bearings, Seals and Oil Consumption	Memo	02.04.18	22	Review to substantiate the calculation of the oil concentration in aircraft cabins		https://doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/fk5dq		2.2M
Dieter Scholz	Cabin Air Contamination - An Aeronautical Perspective	Presentation	16.03.18	73	59. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin e.V., Dresden (Germany), 16. März 2018		---		5.0M
Dieter Scholz	Belastete Kabinenluft in Flugzeugen - Flugzeugbau-Experte Dieter Scholz sieht Handlungsbedarf	Interview	06.12.17	4	Hinweis: Dies ist eine etwas vollständigere Version des Interviews als im Themendienst der HAW Hamburg vom 03.04.2018 Streichungen der Pressestelle sind hervorgehoben.	---	https://purl.org/aero/INT2017-12-17		501K
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air - Quality or Contamination?	Presentation	20.11.17	48	Personalversammlung "Kabine" Deutsche Lufthansa AG Frankfurt, 20 November 2017	---	---		4.1M
Dieter Scholz	Die Luft in der Kabine von Passagierflugzeugen ist nicht so gut wie oft angenommen - Hintergründe, Lösungsmöglichkeiten und deren Umsetzung	Memo	01.10.17	4	Populärwissenschaftliche Darstellung und Einführung	---	https://purl.org/aero/M2017-10-01 https://doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/he59k		224K
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil - An Engineering View	Journal Paper	17.09.19	6	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2017 Imperial College London, 19 - 20 September 2017				765K
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil - An Engineering View	Presentation	19.09.17	72	International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2017 Imperial College London, 19 - 20 September 2017		https://purl.org/cabinair/GCAQE2017		5.2M
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air and Engine Oil - A Systems Engineering View	Presentation	27.04.17	75	Hamburg Aerospace Lecture Series (HALS) DGLR, RAeS, VDI, ZAL, HAW Hamburg together with VC and UFO HAW Hamburg, 27 April 2017				6.9M
Dieter Scholz	Aircraft Cabin Air & Water Contamination/Quality – An Aircraft Systems Engineering Perspective	Presentation	01.04.14	46	QCAQE – Global Cabin Air Quality Executive 7th ANNUAL FORUM London, 31 March – 2 April 2014 Video Showing Contaminated Water on Aircraft (2020) Background to: Contaminated Water on Aircraft (2020)	---	https://purl.org/cabinair/AirAndWater --- https://purl.org/cabinair/WaterContamination		PDF:   37M

Presentations are based on one another - extended through the years; shortened for the audience and allocated time.

Videos

Presentation at the International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2019

Presentation at the International Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 2017

Dieter Scholz im Interview bei: ZDFzoom - Dicke Luft im Flieger (2017)

Dieter Scholz im Interview bei: Deutschlandfunk Nova - Kabinenluft (2017)

Student Contributions

Author	University	Title	Type of Work	Delivered	No of Pages	Full Text	Size	Persistent Identifier
Carlos L. S. Raposo	Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico	Bioaerosol Transport and Sensor in Passenger Aircraft	Master Thesis	October 2022	123			https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7444209
Lukas Stichternath	HAW Hamburg	Pilot Measures against Cabin Air Contamination	Bachelor Thesis	03.02.2021	115		8.4M	https://doi.org/10.15488/11531
Dennis Tietke	HAW Hamburg	Oil Leakage Paths within Compressors of Jet Engines and Oil Concentration in Aircraft Cabin Air	Project	25.03.2020	36		7.8M	https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2020-03-25.017
Taner Ayan	HAW Hamburg	Analyse der Liegezeiten von Passagierflugzeugen nach Fume Events mittels Flugverfolgung	Projekt	15.01.2020	68		4.9M	https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:18302-aero2020-01-15.016
Sascha Max	Hochschule RheinMain (Lufthansa Technik)	Entwicklung eines Versuchsaufbaus zur Detektierung von Triebwerksöl und Enteisungsflüssigkeit im Bleedsystem	Vortrag zur Bachelorarbeit	14.11.2019	8		693K	https://purl.org/cabinair/MAX-2019
Ferrão, Mariana Baião	NOVA University Lisbon	Preliminary Analysis of Engine Bleed Air Oil Contamination with the Aerotracer® during Off-Wing Acceptance Testing and On-Wing Flights	Master Thesis	05.11.2019	98		2.8M	http://hdl.handle.net/10362/103150
Marcel Lakies	HAW Hamburg	Dynamic Cabin Air Contamination Calculation Theory	Project	01.03.2019	84		3.2M	https://doi.org/10.15488/4543
Viola Voth	TU Braunschweig	Analyse der Entstehungsmechanismen von Ölnebel in Flugzeugkabinen	Bachelorarbeit	17.07.2018	116		11M	https://purl.org/cabinair/VOTH-2018
Arie Adriaensen	Lund University	Competing Discourses in Aircraft Cabin Air Contamination: How to Define a Problem	Master Thesis	24.01.2017	127		2.2M	https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8904065
Susan Michaelis	Cranfield University	Implementation of the Requirements for the Provision of Clean Air in Crew and Passenger Compartments Using the Aircraft Bleed Air System	Master Thesis	June 2016	131		4.1M	https://purl.org/cabinair/MICHAELIS-2016
Tonje Trulssen Hildre, June Krutå Jensen	Norwegian University of Science and Technology	Fume Events in Aircraft Cabins	Master Thesis	June 2015	168		2.1M	http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2353003
Paul W. Magoha	Kansas State University	Incident-Response Monitoring Technologies for Aircraft-Cabin Air Quality	PhD Thesis	13.08.2012	398		38.5M	http://hdl.handle.net/2097/14187
Susan Michaelis	University of New South Wales	Health and Flight Safety Implications from Exposure to Contaminated Air in Aircraft	PhD Thesis	September 2010	932		6.1M	https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/23524
Chris Winder	University of New South Wales	Aerotoxic Syndrome	Master Thesis	August 2010	276		17.9M	https://perma.cc/EGH8-ZEPA

Media Coverage (selected)

Sick Pilots: Justice Recognizes the Reality

Full story in English (archived), Original article in French (archived), Original article in French behind paywall (archived),

ARD/SWR: Schadstoffe in der Kabinenluft

• Umfrage unter Bordpersonal: Es gibt viele Betroffene
• Flugzeugexperte, Scholz: "Das Belüftungssystem ist eine Fehlkonstruktion"
• Luftfahrtexperte der Grünen: Es muss jetzt endlich gehandelt werden
• Personalvertretung von Lufthansa fordert Schutzmasken für Crew-Mitglieder

Schwäbische: Piloten klagen über Gesundheitsprobleme

Die ZEIT: Gift in der Kabine?

Sunday Times: EasyJet is First Airline to Go for Total Cabin Air Filtration

More:
ORF2, KONKRET, 2017-09-22, 18:30: Video (Interview e.g. with Prof. Scholz).
ORF2, ZIB2, 2017-09-22, 22:00: Video (Interview e.g. with Prof. Scholz), Transcript, in Web.Archive.

EasyJet to go for Cabin Air Filtration in the Recirculation Path

More News

2020-12-18: Pressegespräch: 10 Jahre German Wings "Cabin Air Contamination Event" am 2010-12-19 mit "Fast-Katastrophe"

2020-08-10: HANDELSBLATT: Gefährliche Kabinenluft: Nervengifte in 10.000 Metern Höhe

Text im HANDELSBLATT, Text archiviert.

Dangerous cabin air: Nerve poisons at 10,000 metres altitude (PDF)

2020-07-31: JetBlue Pilot Wins Major Worker Compensation for Toxic Fume Exposure

Text at Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), text archived.

2020-05-27: Open Letter - German Government Financial Aid for Lufthansa Must Included Money for Better Cabin Air

2020-05-21: € 9 Billion Lufthansa Bailout by German Government - Contaminated Cabin Air Likely to Remain Unnoticed!

2020-01-28: ARD/SWR (German Television): Polluted Cabin Air

See more information related to this documentary below!

Reporting by Aviation Herald

2019-10-19: Aviation Herald: Accident: British Airways A320 at Paphos on Oct 19th 2019, fumes in cockpit, both pilots partially incapacitated

2019-08-22: Aviation Herald: Accident: Hawaiian A21N near Honolulu on Aug 22nd 2019, fumes and smoke on board prompt evacuation
Prof. Scholz: An analysis of the sequence of events!

2019-08-05: Aviation Herald: Accident: British Airways A321 at Valencia on Aug 5th 2019, smoke on board

2019-03-29: Five UK Airlines Sued Over Toxic Cabin Air Including British Airways and EasyJet

Text at The Independent, text archived.

More Reporting by Aviation Herald - Selection of Incidences Before 2019

2015-07-17: Aviation Herald: Accident: Spirit A319 at Boston on Jul 17th 2015, fumes on board, captain died 50 days later

Action

CO Detectors

[1] Global Cabin Air Quality Executive: Carbon Monoxide Database Collated on 345 BAe 146 Flights in UK, 2003-2004, 2006 (access difficult, but contact GCAQE for more information if you are desperate)

Feel free to report/share your findings. E.g. take a picture of your CO detector with its reading (maybe with a fume filled cabin in the background) and report about what happened to people during that flight. We may all learn from this collected information.

I have expressed the above view in my presentations and have been asked where inexpensive(!) CO detectors can be bought. Looking on the Internet myself, I discovered these links:

Inexpensive Instant CO Sensors:
UYIGAO UA6070 CO Detector (identical to KXL-801) --- Features: loud alarm
KXL-801 CO Detector (identical to UYIGAO UA6070) --- Video Test
KKmoon GM8805 CO Detector --- Features: data hold, alarm threshold can be set. Video Test. Manual (PDF)
AS8700A CO Detector --- Features: data hold
HT-530 CO Detector --- Features: clip to attach to clothes
KXL-601 Mini CO Detector (low budget device) --- User report: "very inaccurate", "not recommended"

Remark:

• Not considered to be an alarm/safety/warning device
• Battery about 100 hours service life
• Operating pressure unkown
• These very affordable CO detectors are offered by Chinese wholesale and retail online shops e.g. TOMTOP and Banggood. You can find mixed online reviews about both shops. I have no stakes in these sales. You purchase at your own risk.
• The main disadvantage of these inexpensive products is that they will automatically shut off if they are not operated for 10 minutes. This is necessary, because the batteries will not last sufficiently long otherwise. The holder has to check the air for CO at regular intervals or when being suspicious.
• Do not worry about a loud alarm on your CO detector going off. The CO concentration in the cabin is much lower than the typical fixed threshold of 50 ppm. Some sensors even allow setting the threshold. In the very unlikely event where the alarm is triggered, you should be thankful for it!

Remark:

• Not considered to be an alarm/safety/warning device
• 3 month logging life (data storage & battery)
• Operating pressure range 900 hPa ... 1100 hPa (up to 3300 ft cabin altitude; required would be 8000 ft or 750 hPa)
• It is left to the user to set the light and sound alarms indicating the presence of CO
• Device with USB interface and PC software for data visualization
• EL-USB-CO300: ±5ppm / ±4% (whichever is greater); EL-USB-CO: ±7ppm / ±6% (whichever is greater); => select EL-USB-CO300

Breathing Masks

Also this information is provided here; because I have been ask for it. Cabin crew members are increasingly concerned. Some already have a personal breathing mask in their carry-on baggage or intend to do so. By asking cabin crew members to consider to carry a breathing mask (in order to be prepared for a very unlikely event), I do NOT state that cabin air can be compared to the air after an attack with chemical weapons. What I argue is only this: A breathing mask (with a suitable filter) will protect people in "harsh environments". I do NOT consider the aircraft cabin such a "harsh environment". Therefore, a breathing mask will give sufficient protection in such cases where people have (claimed to) become ill in the aircraft cabin due to (potentially) contaminated cabin air. Employers have a legal duty to protect their employees. If employers do not act accordingly, cabin crew have the right to take measures themselves as deemed necessary.

Links

Films

  Prof. Dr. Scholz
  Aircraft Design and Systems Group (AERO)
  Aeronautical Engineering
  Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering
  Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
  Hamburg University of Applied Sciences