the times | Friday July 31 2020 1GM 21
News
A British Airways pilot was incapacitat-
ed by an odour described as like “sweaty
socks” as his plane prepared to land at
Heathrow, prompting fresh concerns
over fumes on passenger jets.
A report published yesterday said
that the Airbus A320 had to perform an
emergency landing when the fumes
suddenly overcame the cockpit at
4,000ft. The two pilots on the flight
from Zurich on September 23 last year
had to put on oxygen masks.
The co-pilot was worst affected, com-
plaining of sore eyes and throat and
feelings of nausea before vomiting out
of the cockpit window when the plane
eventually landed, the report said. The
co-pilot and commander of the flight,
which was carrying 145 passengers and
crew, were treated in hospital before
being released the same day.
The Air Accidents Investigation
Branch said the airline and aircraft
manufacturer could not discover the
source of the fumes. In August last year,
a BA flight had to be evacuated on the
tarmac at Valencia airport in Spain
when smoke filled the passenger cabin.
Yesterday’s AAIB report said that it
had recorded 107 “fume incidents” in
the past five years, including 37 in the
last 12 months. In total, there were 3,166
reports of a smell, smoke or fumes in
commercial jets over a five-year period.
Some had a particular cause including
engine oil seal failures. In one case,
fumes were linked to a burnt pastry in
the galley oven, it emerged.
However, the AAIB report said that
multiple investigations to date “have
Pilots left gasping
by cockpit stench
of ‘sweaty socks’
Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent not been able to determine the exact
cause in all but a few events”. It suggest-
ed that the atmosphere of the flight
deck may contribute to a heightened
awareness of certain smells.
An analysis of five events also found
that fume incidents were particularly
prevalent in short-haul European
flights, made worse by “damp humid
environments with drizzle or rain
present”. Evidence suggests that fumes
may be caused by contaminants enter-
ing the air conditioning system.
Fire crews at Heathrow failed to
detect the source of the smell in last
September’s incident and investiga-
tions by the AAIB and BA “did
not identify the source of the fumes”,
it said.
The report said: “The operator and
aircraft manufacturer have taken
action to try to reduce the number of
events, which includes the develop-
ment of detailed maintenance proce-
dures to identify the source of fumes,
changes to flight crew operating proce-
dures and the evaluation of modifica-
tions to enhance cabin air recirculation
filtration systems.”
BA said: “We would never operate an
aircraft if we believed it posed any
health or safety risk to our customers or
crew. Research commissioned by the
European Aviation Safety Agency in
2017 concluded that the air quality on
board aircraft was similar or better than
in other indoor environments.
It added: “Fume or odour events have
been found to be caused by a wide range
of issues, including burnt food, aerosols
and e-cigarettes, food in cabin bags and
de-icing fluid.”
Shoppers shun plastic bags
Andrew Ellson
Consumer Affairs Editor
Supermarkets in England sold 59 per
cent fewer plastic carrier bags over the
past year compared with the previous
12 months, amid growing awareness
over the damage they do to the planet.
Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco, Marks &
Spencer, Morrisons, the Co-op and
Waitrose collectively sold only 226 mil-
lion of the bags over the year — 322 mil-
lion fewer than in 2018-19 and down
from 7.6 billion the year before the 5p
charge was introduced in 2015.
The average person in England now
buys only four carrier bags a year from
the main supermarket chains
compared with ten last year and 140 in
2014, according to data from the
Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs.
George Eustice, the environment
secretary, said: “It is encouraging to see
in such a short space of time the huge
difference our plastic carrier bag charge
has had in reducing the amount of
plastic we use in our everyday lives.”
The fall in usage came despite the 5p
charge being suspended in March this
year because of the coronavirus out-
break. Before it was suspended, all
retailers employing more than 250
people had to levy the fee.A
former
home of
William
Wordsworth,
where he and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
wrote their Lyrical
Ballads, has been sold
for about £2 million to acharity that will turn it
into a Buddhist retreat
(Emma Yeomans
writes).
Wordsworth and his
sister Dorothy lived at
Alfoxton Park, in
Holford, Somerset, for a
year in 1797.
Coleridge lived on the
other side of the
Quantocks hills in
Nether Stowey and
walked frequently to
visit them — so
frequently that the
path between the two
villages is now part of
the Coleridge way
walking path.The
Wordsworths’
time in the
grade II listed
house and
estate
coincides with
Coleridge’s
authorship of
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
and Kubla Khan,
and there is
speculation that thepoems may have been
written there.
Alfoxton Park, a
former hotel, which was
built in the 18th century
and is set in 51 acres of
gardens, is also the place
where Coleridge first
read The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner aloud
to his friends.
The Buddhist charity,
the Alfoxton Park Trust,
said: “Once the building
has been restored to at
least something of its
former glory, we would
love to welcome poets,
pilgrims and lovers of
nature.”Poet home
reborn as
retreat for
Buddhists
William Wordsworth,
below, wrote Lyrical
Ballads with Samuel Taylor
Coleridge while living at
Alfoxton Park, SomersetTh
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