B757 flight attendants reported nausea; head aches; and other physical ills after a flight on which ...

Narrative:

When I arrived on the aircraft; it smelled as if something had occurred in the air; it was faint smell of oil; nothing really noticeable; but the plane did not smell the same as I am used to. The air felt a bit heavier. I did mention this to the captain; but he said he did not smell anything. When we he released the brakes; a status message appeared that said; APU oil qty low. He set the brakes and we called maintenance. When the mechanic arrived; he too said that the air had a faint smell to it; but in the course of everything being checked on the plane; the smell dissipated. The APU was deferred and before we departed again; one of the flight attendants said that she smelled something in the back of the plane by the galley. The captain sent me back to smell along with the mechanic. We smelt nothing; I even stood under the ceiling eyeball bent in the rear galley and to the side to see if the air had any smell to it; which it did not; at which point I said to her 'it's your call; if you smell anything; now or at any time; let us know.' she said she didn't smell anything anymore and would let us know if she did. The flight departed uneventfully and I wore my O2 mask a few different times to see if I noticed any change or a smell; which I did not. The flight attendants never reported any more odd smells or odors to us and all appeared to be normal in smell and function of the aircraft with the exception of no APU.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 Flight Attendants reported nausea; head aches; and other physical ills after a flight on which oil fumes and odors were reported. The previous crew rejected that aircraft after reporting ill effects from the odor.

Narrative: When I arrived on the aircraft; it smelled as if something had occurred in the air; it was faint smell of oil; nothing really noticeable; but the plane did not smell the same as I am used to. The air felt a bit heavier. I did mention this to the Captain; but he said he did not smell anything. When we he released the brakes; a status message appeared that said; APU OIL QTY LOW. He set the brakes and we called Maintenance. When the Mechanic arrived; he too said that the air had a faint smell to it; but in the course of everything being checked on the plane; the smell dissipated. The APU was deferred and before we departed again; one of the flight attendants said that she smelled something in the back of the plane by the galley. The Captain sent me back to smell along with the Mechanic. We smelt nothing; I even stood under the ceiling eyeball bent in the rear galley and to the side to see if the air had any smell to it; which it did not; at which point I said to her 'It's your call; if you smell anything; now or at any time; let us know.' She said she didn't smell anything anymore and would let us know if she did. The flight departed uneventfully and I wore my O2 mask a few different times to see if I noticed any change or a smell; which I did not. The flight attendants never reported any more odd smells or odors to us and all appeared to be normal in smell and function of the aircraft with the exception of no APU.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1023934
Time
Date	201207
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	APU
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 270 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 5000
Person 2
Function	Flight Attendant In Charge
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

B757 flight attendants reported nausea; head aches; and other physical ills after a flight on which oil fumes and odors were reported. The previous crew rejected that aircraft after reporting ill effects from the odor.