25 July 2007 : Column WA86

25 July 2007 : Column WA86

Aviation: Air Quality

Lord Tyler asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consideration the Civil Aviation Authority has given to advising pilots to submit an aviation safety review to their airline and a mandatory occurrence report to the authority in the event that cabin air becomes contaminated. [HL4953]

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Any cabin air contamination that might threaten the safety of the aircraft must be reported under the existing mandatory reporting requirements, and relevant guidance is included in all air operators’ operations manuals. In consequence the CAA does not consider that further advice to air operators or pilots is required.

Comment: MOR system requires the following events to be reported to the CAA and as an ASR:

Fire, explosion, smoke or toxic or noxious fumes
Leakage of hydraulic fluids, fuel, oil or other fluids which resulted in a fire hazard or possible hazardous contamination of aircraft structure, systems or equipment, or risk to occupants;

Evidence shows less than 50 % of fume events are being reported to the CAA as an MOR and less than 4% of fume events are reported in the first place.Therefore aditional instructions are required.