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Cabin air quality and asthma
Letter from Mr Kennet
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Jasper Kelly Tuesday 29 June 2010 |
The following letter was received from Mr William Kennet:
Dear Sir,
I am involved in a dispute with my travel agent over a ruined holiday caused by an asthma attack suffered by my wife after a 3-hour flight. My wife says it was caused by stale air in the aircraft and her sister says that it is well known for people to suffer from stale air and to get these attacks.
Her sister says that I should go and see a solicitor but before doing that and paying out more money I would appreciate any advice that you can give me.
Yours faithfully,
William Kennet
I have replied to Mr Kennet as follows:
I cannot advise you on whether or not to follow your sister-in-law’s advice nor about the air on any specific flight. What I can do is to tell you that problems with cabin air are extremely rare and explain something of the process.
When an aircraft is flying at, say, 30,000 feet, the outside air is very thin and does not contain enough oxygen to enable you to breath properly. The cabin pressurisation system uses a small portion of the air that is being compressed by the jet engines to create the same pressure and oxygen level as you would experience at about 7,000 feet. This air is thinner than at sea level but is considered to be optimum for a number of reasons.
The pressurisation system is fully automatic. It completely changes the air in the cabin 15 times an hour and involves a number of processing and filtering stages to remove particulates and contaminates.
The system is always fully duplicated, usually taking air from two engines and running through two identical cooling and conditioning systems. Initially, the air, which will have been heated by the compression process, is diverted through cooling vanes within the wings to bring it down to the correct cabin temperature. From here it is gradually mixed with air from the cabin to maintain the desired temperature whilst old cabin air is exhausted back to the atmosphere.
The air-change rate and the use of high-efficiency particulate filters produces very high air quality. Earth-bound spores such as pollen which can contribute to or trigger asthma attacks are removed. On balance, I would not think it likely that your wife’s asthma attack was due to any stale-air syndrome, should such a syndrome even exist.
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Dr Ansell, London 29 June 2010, 11:23AM | |
It is unusual for someone with asthma to have a problem flying as long as they are stable when they go on the plane. If someone is having breathing difficulty prior to flying, it may become worse on a plane, which is pressurized to the same as 5,000 to 8,000 feet in altitude. | |
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Susan J, Kent 30 June 2010, 12:39PM | |
I feel very sorry for your wife Mr Kennet; my brother in law has asthma and has suffered in aircraft cabins in the past. Although he says this happens to him rarely while flying, the air quality can vary from plane to plane. | |
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Martin, Leeds 1 July 2010, 04:20PM | |
Reading Jasper Kelly's analysis of this situation, it seems the quality of air in aircraft cabins is continuously cleaned and filtered, I would be cautious in challenging the airlines on this. I would be interested if other passengers on your flight experienced poor air quality. | |
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Robbie, Eastbourne 30 November 2010, 05:17PM | |
I would not want to challenge the airline because you would not be 100% sure that it was 'stale' air that trigged the attack. I have never heard of a case where asthma attacks have been caused by stale air before. | |
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eyegate 2 January 2012, 04:28PM | |
I suffered a severe asthma attack on a plane that sat in a runway for over 1 hour, waiting for clearance. They shut down the cabin filtration system and the air supply was limited. I simply could not breathe. The sad part was this: I notified the stewardess, who could have cared less about my "problem" and asked to be let off the plane. She refused to acknowledge my request. As I was slowly suffocating, I rose from me seat pleaing to get off the craft. I even knocked on the door of the cockpit for help. I was sharply rebuked for getting out of my seat, told it was a "security breach." The police were called in and I was escorted off the place and taken for questioning. Meanwhile, I am coughing, wheezing and feeling as if I would die. I was not allowed my medication until 30 minutes later when my bag was brought to me. (I was not allowed to take my carry on bag on board,although it was within size limits). The police let me go but I could not board another plane for 8 hours. | |
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