Thousands of flights have encountered toxic fumes that have resulted in grave brain injuries for passengers and staff, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
The investigation discovered a significant increase in jet fuel leak incidents, causing symptoms similar to chronic traumatic encephalopathy often found in NFL players.
‘Thousands of so-called fume events’ have been documented by the FAA since 2010, as reported by the WSJ, with many incidents involving Airbus A320 aircraft.
Flight attendant Florence Chesson reported being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and nervous system damage after exposure to fumes on an A320 plane.
She told the WSJ it started with a ‘dirty feet’ aroma which pervaded the cabin on board a flight to Puerto Rico in December 2017.
The flight attendant described feeling intoxicated, while a colleague experienced difficulty breathing and nausea, eventually leading to vomiting during the flight.
Chesson said the flight landed and two colleagues were taken to hospital, one on a stretcher, and the plane took off on another flight to Boston.
She described a state of disorientation and confusion, noting that she was sweating profusely and experienced a strong metallic taste.
Several JetBlue flights have been plagued by toxic fumes which have left several people on board with permanent brain injuries. (Pictured: A passenger protects herself from the fumes)
Air hostess Florence Chesson said she has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and damage to her nervous system after inhaling fumes leaked from the jet engine
The rate of incidents has risen sharply in recent years, many of them being on board Airbus A320 jets, the aircraft type which Chesson was on board
‘I felt like I was talking gibberish,’ she told the WSJ. ‘I remember being very repetitive, saying ‘What just happened to me? What just happened to me?’
Chesson said her symptoms escalated over several months, and her doctor, Robert Kaniecki, diagnosed her with permanent damage to her nervous system.
Kaniecki told the WSJ the impacts on her brain were ‘extraordinarily similar’ to those seen in NFL players who had suffered a severe hit to the head.
The doctor said he has treated around 12 pilots and 100 flight attendants for similar brain injuries after they were exposed to fumes on a plane over the last two decades.
Daily Mail has contacted Airbus and JetBlue for comment.
Another possible jet engine-related fume leak came in April, when an American Airlines plane filled with smoke shortly after it landed.
The Bombardier CRJ900, operated by sister airline American Eagle, got into trouble after landing at Augusta Regional Airport in Georgia.
Flight 5406, which had taken off from Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina, landed about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.
But the aircraft stopped on the runway – with passengers forced to urgently evacuate.
Shocking footage captured by Sean O’Conor, who was onboard the aircraft, showed horrified and confused passengers crawling onto the wings of the plane before jumping a few feet down to the ground.
The plane has experienced a ‘maintenance issue after landing safely in Augusta. All passengers deplaned and were escorted to the airport terminal,’ American Airlines told ABC 7.
No-one was injured and the FAA is investigating the incident.
Shocking footage captured by Sean O’Conor, who was onboard the aircraft, showed horrified and confused passengers crawling onto the wings of the plane before jumping a few feet down to the ground
Similar scenes broke out on a plane in June when a cabin filled with smoke due to a power bank exploding just 15 minutes into a flight, as shown in the photograph above
Similar scenes broke out on a plane in June when a cabin filled with smoke due to a power bank exploding just 15 minutes into a flight.
Video footage showed passengers panicking as thick, acrid smoke began billowing out of an overhead locker.
People could be heard shouting at each other, and opening it up to find one passenger’s camera battery and power bank smoldering in a locker.
A flight attendant appeared with a small fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
The incident took place on China Southern Airlines flight CZ6850 from Hangzhou to Shenzhen in China on Saturday, May 31.
The pilot of the plane was forced to return to Hangzhou International Airport after the passenger’s power bank ignited shortly after take-off.
An airline spokesperson said: ‘The crew handled it properly and quickly eliminated the safety risk. To ensure safety, the flight immediately returned to the airport and landed safely 15 minutes after take-off.’
The spokesperson added that no one was injured, and that the airline would help any passengers affected by the delay.
