Narrative:

Upon starting packs for the aircraft; a very nasty odor immediately permeated the entire aircraft. It smelled like dirty socks. I told the first officer that it smelled like dirty socks or vinegar to me. [The first officer] had the same experience and informed me that that was something he had experienced [recently] on descent with another aircraft and ended up with burning eyes at that time and a headache. I immediately turned off the packs and asked the flight attendant if they also had smelled this pungent odor. They did. The first officer told me that on the previous occasion; he filed a report because of the physical symptoms. He then told me that he would refuse to fly the aircraft; as he was very concerned; because on the previous occasion he had accumulated a lot of information of toxic fumes entering aircraft from leaking hydraulic seals or oil seals where fluids somehow were dispersed through aircraft; making crews ill. He next showed me documentation from his previous airline regarding toxic fumes in aircraft. He also showed me an article where an airbus crew from [another airline] became physically ill during descent. The captain and first officer lost their medicals because of permanent neurological damage. They specifically reported an odor of dirty socks or vinegar for this event. We had flown this same aircraft the day before but did not smell anything. However; that night I did end up with a slight headache as did he. I decided to refuse this aircraft until the cause of smell could be determined. I will file a report. I believe this is serious enough to warrant a serious investigation as to the cause of this odor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 flight crew refused aircraft after noticing a 'dirty sock' smell during preflight at the gate.

Narrative: Upon starting packs for the aircraft; a very nasty odor immediately permeated the entire aircraft. It smelled like dirty socks. I told the FO that it smelled like dirty socks or vinegar to me. [The FO] had the same experience and informed me that that was something he had experienced [recently] on descent with another aircraft and ended up with burning eyes at that time and a headache. I immediately turned off the packs and asked the FA if they also had smelled this pungent odor. They did. The FO told me that on the previous occasion; he filed a report because of the physical symptoms. He then told me that he would refuse to fly the aircraft; as he was very concerned; because on the previous occasion he had accumulated a lot of information of toxic fumes entering aircraft from leaking hydraulic seals or oil seals where fluids somehow were dispersed through aircraft; making crews ill. He next showed me documentation from his previous airline regarding toxic fumes in aircraft. He also showed me an article where an Airbus crew from [another airline] became physically ill during descent. The Captain and FO lost their medicals because of permanent neurological damage. They specifically reported an odor of dirty socks or vinegar for this event. We had flown this same aircraft the day before but did not smell anything. However; that night I did end up with a slight headache as did he. I decided to refuse this aircraft until the cause of smell could be determined. I will file a report. I believe this is serious enough to warrant a SERIOUS investigation as to the cause of this odor.

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.