Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Civil Aviation Authority has suspended the medical clearance of a pilot due to possible exposureto contaminated air or organophosphates in the last30 years. [74819]
Gillian Merron: It has not been possible to establish from the Civil Aviation Authority's medical records prior to1999 that any pilot attributed his/her symptoms to exposure to contaminated cabin air. During the past six years symptoms that have been reported by licence holders and attributed by them to exposure to contaminated cabin air have resulted in the suspension of medical fitness of 10 airline transport pilot licence holders. The periods of suspension varied according to the type of symptoms reported. However, the symptoms that have been reported by these pilots have been very varied and it has not been possible to attribute the symptoms reported to definite chemical exposures.