Fight on fumes set for take-off

By TANIA EWING
AVIATION EDITOR

The international aviation industry is preparing for a slew of lawsuits after a Perth court's landmark decision gave a former Ansett flight attendant leave to sue the airline for negligence and loss of income for chronic illnesses she says were caused by years of exposure to toxic fumes in on-board air.

The case highlights a problem the industry has largely dismissed for more than a decade, despite reports of almost identical medical symptoms by thousands of cabin crew in at least four countries.

An investigation by The Sunday Age reveals that some airlines, such as Alaska Air and Ansett, have had hundreds of reports that on-board fumes, said to smell like dirty socks, were causing mid-air black-outs, nausea, vertigo and headaches among cabin crew and some passengers.

Documents show that the industry was being warned in the late 1980s that the fumes, linked to oil and lubrication fluid fumes leaking into the cabin air supply of the BAe 146, a short-haul aircraft, was a serious safety risk.

The Sunday Age has also learnt of allegations that both Alaska Air and Ansett have threatened medical experts investigating the problem and tried to discredit staff who complained of fume-related illnesses. These allegations have been denied.

The Perth case, giving Ms Judy Cullinane, pictured, leave to sue, is ``great news'', according to Mr Chris Witkowski, director of air safety for the Flight Attendants Association of America. The WA case will be the first common law action to proceed to trial against an airline over this problem.

A spokesman for Ansett said it could trigger similar lawsuits, but added that the Perth court had not reviewed the merits of the case, only determined whether the illness had caused significant loss of income.

Speaking from Washington, Mr Witkowski said more than 1000 of his members had reported on-board illnesses linked to maintenance reports of leaking oil seals. The by-products of the oils were neurotoxins and had been shown to cause the symptoms, he said.

A number of airlines, including Ansett, and aerospace companies have investigated the problem but found no link between fumes leaking into cabins and sickness among cabin crew. However, Mr Witkowski said: ``What is needed is a comprehensive, independent study.'' The call has been supported by Mr Lawrie Cox, spokesman for the Australian Federation of Air Pilots.

The Sunday Age has found that a committee set up in 1996 by Ansett to investigate the problem had a number of members sceptical of chemical-related illnesses, including a WorkCover doctor who had already dismissed claims for compensation by flight attendants.

Dr Mark Donohoe, a specialist in environmental medicine, has questioned the independence of the Ansett committee. Dr Donohoe also claims to have been threatened with legal action by the head of the committee after he defended the issue of fume-related illness in a Sydney newspaper. ``It was told I would be sued if I didn't retract what I had said.''

An Ansett spokesman said the committee had been advised by some of the country's best medical experts. He also said that a third Ansett employee present at the meeting between Dr Donohoe and Dr Lewis in 1996 does not recall any threats being made. Dr Lewis was unavailable to comment to The Sunday Age.

The Bureau of Air Safety Investigations has been reviewing the problem since an Ansett pilot suffered vertigo while landing in Melbourne in 1997, an attack blamed on cabin fumes. In January last year, crew and passengers on an Ansett flight had to breathe through wet towels because of on-board fumes traced to hydraulic fluid leaking into the cabin's air supply.

A year later, Ansett announced it would ``accelerate a preventative maintenance program to substantially reduce the incidence of oil leaks''.