... And It Ain't Love

The British government is concerned about the air quality aboard commercial aircraft. To that end, Her Majesty's lawmakers have launched an investigation into whether contaminated air is being pumped into aircraft by compressors powered by the engines.

The British Airline Pilots Association, or BALPA -- along with at least one flight attendants union -- says that air often contains flecks of oil that cause nausea, headaches and flu-like symptoms. In fact, the unions contend some people have been so badly affected by the polluted air, that they've had to cut short their flying careers.

"There have been complaints of nausea, headaches and flu-like symptoms and there have been cases of people losing their flying license," a spokesman for the BALPA told the Daily Telegraph. "What happens in the cockpit and to the crew can also have an impact on passengers in the cabin."

The Telegraph reports, on average, about half the air aboard a commercial plane is recirculated (something else that has drawn complaints) while the remainder is drawn in from outside by compressors on the plane's engines.

This isn't the first time a government agency has looked into just how fresh the "fresh" air being drawn into airplane cabins is. The Brits also studied this problem in 2000, and found that engine oil, while present in the air aboard commercial planes, posed no significant health risk in the cabin air mix.

So now comes a new study, that coincides with a similar investigation now being conducted by the FAA.

BALPA states the problem could be fixed with better maintenance procedures, as well as carefully watching to make sure crews don't overfill engines with oil between flights.

The union also says filters should be installed on engines to catch any random oil particles.

FMI: www.balpa.org.uk/