After APU start during preflight; the flight attendants and passengers detected a strong musky; wet ...

Attributes
ACN	1288884
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A321
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	APU
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

Upon boarding; once APU was turned on; bad odors started coming from the whole ventilation system throughout the aircraft. Strong musty; wet socks smell kept coming; as passengers smelled it they all started to complain as well. All crewmembers felt nauseous; and notified the captain of this issue. Captain claimed it was just the filters that needed to be replaced. As it could have been burned hydraulic liquid without him being aware of this. Maintenance was not even called to inspect the aircraft due to pressure of on time performance.inspection should be mandatory after any incidents [like this one.] concerned crewmembers should not just be ignored. The company should care; and provide proper maintenance. Not wait for an incident to do something about it.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: After APU start during preflight; the flight attendants and passengers detected a strong musky; wet sock odor making them nauseous. The Captain attributed the odor to dirty air filters and so ignored them. Historically; APU oil reservoir over service has been a known cause.

Narrative: Upon boarding; once APU was turned on; bad odors started coming from the whole ventilation system throughout the aircraft. Strong musty; wet socks smell kept coming; as passengers smelled it they all started to complain as well. All crewmembers felt nauseous; and notified the captain of this issue. Captain claimed it was just the filters that needed to be replaced. As it could have been burned hydraulic liquid without him being aware of this. Maintenance was not even called to inspect the aircraft due to pressure of on time performance.Inspection should be mandatory after any incidents [like this one.] Concerned crewmembers should not just be ignored. The company should care; and provide proper maintenance. Not wait for an incident to do something about it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

After APU start during preflight; the flight attendants and passengers detected a strong musky; wet sock odor making them nauseous. The captain attributed the odor to dirty air filters and so ignored them. Historically; APU oil reservoir over service has been a known cause.