Narrative:

Within moments of turning on the packs after takeoff both crew noticed a strong smell I would characterize as musty/moldy/body odor. As I pondered my next move the first officer asked if I smelled that; followed shortly by I think that is the dirty sock smell. Her next comment of 'I'm already feeling nauseated' broke my reverie and both crew members as well as our jump seat occupant donned O2 masks immediately. We attempted to perform the 'elimination of odor in the flight deck/cabin' procedure. We were hindered in our efforts by the fact that the binder of the first QRH employed broke in half when the first officer attempted to retrieve it leaving her with nearly 200 loose pages of former QRH. I provided my QRH but the procedure is missing from the back; or anywhere; in this particular aircraft's QRH. Volume 2 was referenced for the procedure which was challenging to find given the constraints of the mask.we leveled the aircraft at 16;000 feet and as the first officer was already experiencing symptoms I elected to return the aircraft to [the departure airport] without further delay. ATC was notified of our intentions and I terminated the previously mentioned checklist that involved troubleshooting the air packs due to the difficulty in following a procedure through the mask on the ipad and our need to prepare the aircraft for an air turn back. I never did feel I was able to get a real idea of which pack might be causing the odor. As we descended through 10;000 feet I turned off both packs since I had been unable to determine the source of the odor and opened the ram air valve in an effort to provide as much fresh air to the cabin as possible. The first officer ran the overweight landing checklist as we were approximately 3000 pounds above max landing weight. ATC vectored us for an ILS approach which terminated in a successful landing. The aircraft was met by fire and EMS as well as representatives from flight operations; inflight and local [authorities].the aircraft was deplaned without further incident. The odor event; crew usage of O2 and overweight landing were documented in the logbook post flight. The flight and cabin crew debriefed with the aforementioned parties prior to departing the scene. Both the airbus and [company] odor/fume reporting sheets were completed and delivered to maintenance. Both pilots and I believe all flight attendants reported to company provided medical care for evaluation afterwards. On further communication with flight attendants it appears at least some of them showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the blood tests their doctors performed. Even though the doctor was familiar with these ongoing odor events in the industry and was provided with [union] and IATA guidance for examination no blood testing of the pilots was completed. Perhaps the company [and other parties involved] can work towards a common strategy for post incident comprehensive physical examination of crew members to ensure all bases are covered.ensure that the elimination of odor in flight deck/cabin checklist is added to every QRH in the fleet as soon as possible. I believe our fleet manager has been working very hard to see this happen. Trying to use an ipad to find critical checklists while wearing a mask is very difficult even without the presence of visibility restricting particulates in the air. Continue working on resolution to this seemingly complex issue as it appears to affect a large portion of the fleet including both boeing and airbus aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew reported odors in the cockpit requiring a return to the airport.

Narrative: Within moments of turning on the PACKS after takeoff both crew noticed a strong smell I would characterize as musty/moldy/body odor. As I pondered my next move the First Officer asked if I smelled that; followed shortly by I think that is the dirty sock smell. Her next comment of 'I'm already feeling nauseated' broke my reverie and both crew members as well as our jump seat occupant donned O2 masks immediately. We attempted to perform the 'Elimination of odor in the flight deck/cabin' procedure. We were hindered in our efforts by the fact that the binder of the first QRH employed broke in half when the First Officer attempted to retrieve it leaving her with nearly 200 loose pages of former QRH. I provided my QRH but the procedure is missing from the back; or anywhere; in this particular aircraft's QRH. Volume 2 was referenced for the procedure which was challenging to find given the constraints of the mask.We leveled the aircraft at 16;000 feet and as the First Officer was already experiencing symptoms I elected to return the aircraft to [the departure airport] without further delay. ATC was notified of our intentions and I terminated the previously mentioned checklist that involved troubleshooting the air packs due to the difficulty in following a procedure through the mask on the Ipad and our need to prepare the aircraft for an air turn back. I never did feel I was able to get a real idea of which pack might be causing the odor. As we descended through 10;000 feet I turned off BOTH packs since I had been unable to determine the source of the odor and opened the ram air valve in an effort to provide as much fresh air to the cabin as possible. The First Officer ran the overweight landing checklist as we were approximately 3000 pounds above max landing weight. ATC vectored us for an ILS Approach which terminated in a successful landing. The aircraft was met by Fire and EMS as well as representatives from flight operations; inflight and local [authorities].The aircraft was deplaned without further incident. The odor event; crew usage of O2 and overweight landing were documented in the logbook post flight. The flight and cabin crew debriefed with the aforementioned parties prior to departing the scene. Both the Airbus and [company] odor/fume reporting sheets were completed and delivered to maintenance. Both pilots and I believe all flight attendants reported to company provided medical care for evaluation afterwards. On further communication with flight attendants it appears at least some of them showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the blood tests their doctors performed. Even though the doctor was familiar with these ongoing odor events in the industry and was provided with [union] and IATA guidance for examination no blood testing of the pilots was completed. Perhaps the company [and other parties involved] can work towards a common strategy for post incident comprehensive physical examination of crew members to ensure all bases are covered.Ensure that the Elimination of Odor in Flight Deck/Cabin checklist is added to EVERY QRH in the fleet ASAP. I believe our fleet manager has been working very hard to see this happen. Trying to use an Ipad to find critical checklists while wearing a mask is very difficult even without the presence of visibility restricting particulates in the air. Continue working on resolution to this seemingly complex issue as it appears to affect a large portion of the fleet including both Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

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.