“I remember walking down the aisle and just gripping the seatbacks because I felt like I was going to fall over”, one of the flight attendants who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, Vanessa Woods, told the paper.
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Williams, then a veteran American Airlines flight attendant of 17 years, noticed a ‘misty haze type of smoke’ on Flight 843 as it taxied toward a gate in Dallas, Texas.
Paramedics rushed all four – who were sick, disoriented and struggling to concentrate – to the hospital.
She said she suffered from fatigue, tremors, memory loss and concentration problems and was unable to return to work.
They say that company documents suggest Boeing knew of the risk that bleed air could contain risky byproducts of burning engine oil.
Nearly all commercial planes suck in air via the engines to maintain the pressurized passenger area. Similar complaints have been heard from other airlines and the issue is taking on some urgency after air ventilation problems are being blamed for two United Kingdom pilot deaths, NBC News’ Tom Costello told WTOP Tuesday. They attendants claim that their problems were created by toxic fumes which were coming through the vents. However, the lawsuit claims that Boeing “poisoned” the crew and its failure to warn anybody about the dangers of toxic cabin air were fraudulent and negligent. In April, a British coroner found “symptoms consistent with exposure to organo-phosphate compounds in the aircraft cabin air”. However, a spokeswoman reportedly said the FAA is concerned that contaminants can seep in if certain equipment fails. “And I think the manufacturers should be rethinking their systems and designing them in a way that won’t put people at risk”.
Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft builder, has been sued before and settled, NBC News reports.
Boeing declined to comment on this suit to NBC News, but did say “cabin air is safe to breathe. To date, cabin air quality research conducted by independent researchers, universities, industry and government agencies has shown that contaminant levels are generally low and that health and safety standards are met”.
Boeing also says it’s looking for ways to improve its planes and cabin air is one of many subjects it’s studying.
The flight attendants allege that on a flight from Boston to San Diego on July 12, 2013, the air drawn from the engine on their Boeing 737 was contaminated by harmful fumes. Circuit Court, accuses Boeing planes of having defects with its “bleed-air” systems that make the company responsible for health problems that were experienced by the flight attendants.
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