BAe 146-300, G-JEBC, 6 September 2007
BAe 146-300, G-JEBC
Summary:
During a positioning flight from Belfast, the flight crew became aware of an unusual smell. There was no smoke or haze. The commander elected to put the crew on oxygen. He declared an emergency and diverted back to Belfast. The commander later described how he felt as similar to being inebriated and that he found it difficult to concentrate. The co-pilot initially felt she had a reduced capacity to fly the aircraft, but this feeling quickly passed. One cabin crew member felt light headed, sick and distressed. The other cabin crew member felt tired and slightly sick. The origin of the fumes was traced to the forward toilet and was probably due to a chemical in the toilet. The fumes may have been as a result of formaldehyde, released as a degradation product of a toilet chemical added during maintenance at Exeter. It was not possible positively to determine to what extent the symptoms of the crew were a result of the fumes, or of the stress associated with the in-flight fumes emergency, or a combination of both.
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