May 14 2000 BRITAIN

Long-haul air passengers pass out from 'oxygen shortage'

Jon Ungoed-Thomas

MANY passengers have blacked out on long-haul Boeing 777 flights because of suspected oxygen shortages. Airline executives have been so worried by possible air quality problems on the planes that some pilots have been ordered to fly at lower levels. At least one airline has offered compensation because of problems.

The Sunday Times revealed last week that British Airways is investigating the planes because cabin crew have suffered side-effects.

Research by another airline has revealed unusual numbers of passengers blacking out. A senior industry source said: "Emirates Airlines was getting up to six or seven passing out on some flights. They tried flying at lower levels but it made no difference."

Union officials believe the problem may be due to a shortage of fresh air. However, Boeing engineers who have done tests have failed to detect a dangerous reduction in oxygen levels.

More than 150 BA cabin crew have reported side-effects, including dizziness, nausea and flu-like symptoms. Several have been given oxygen after falling ill.

Lindsay Holmwood, 30, an investment manager, of Rotherfield, East Sussex, was returning from St Lucia in the Caribbean on a BA flight when three passengers had breathing problems. "It was a hideous flight," she said last week. "It was so stuffy and during the night one passenger was fighting for breath and then panicked and started screaming. She was given oxygen and I saw two others with masks on. I myself felt sick."

Marion Clark, 65, of Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire, fell ill on a United Airlines Boeing 777 in June 1998. "A lot of people felt unwell, including one of the cabin crew," she said. "We all thought there was a problem with the air conditioning. My eyes were smarting and my chest felt tight. I felt I was going down with the flu. When I got off the plane I was so weak that I could hardly stand."

After complaining, she was offered a #100 voucher against a future flight. "I didn't use it," she said last week. "I no longer want to travel on long-haul flights."

BA was alerted to possible problems in 1998 and is working with the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine to establish whether there is a common factor in the incidents.

Dr David Flower, an occupational physician with BA, said the company studied every report of ill health on flights but said there was not a higher proportion of passengers fainting on 777s. However, unusually high numbers of cabin crew are believed to have reported side-effects.

A United Airlines spokesman said: "We have had no need to investigate suspected air quality problems." Emirates Airlines said both it and Boeing were still investigating why unusual numbers of passengers had been fainting on 777s, although such incidents had "fallen off".

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 16, 2000