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A320 captain reported after starting the APU and turning an air conditioning pack on; the cabin filled with fumes.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1588862 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201810 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Air Conditioning and Pressurization Pack |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
Upon starting APU and turning on bleed air; we immediately noticed on flight deck a medium/strong smell of burning oil/stale smell. I asked [the] first officer to concur which he did while opening his flight deck window. I turned off pack #1 and I started to call B flight attendant in back; but before I could she called me and stated that they had a very oily suffocating smell in back of aircraft. I immediately turned off APU bleed air and pack #2. I pulled up the odor removal checklist in fom and told flight attendants to open up back doors to get air flow through cabin. Contacted maintenance control and dispatch. Flight attendants complained of headache; sore throat; stinging eyes. My first officer and I only experienced sore throat and stinging eyes. We de-boarded aircraft per [operations control]. Passengers were sent to another aircraft. EMS responded to check out crew. I told [the] flight attendants they certainly could go to hospital to be further evaluated-they did not. I completed the odor/fumes report. Crew was released as they had replaced all of us. These events are occurring far too frequently. The pack burnout procedures are not always being followed correctly. This is a safety issue for both crews and passengers. Once a pack is contaminated with oil; in my opinion it needs to be replaced; even though this is a huge economic constraint. You can't get much of the contaminants out of system.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A320 Captain reported after starting the APU and turning an air conditioning pack on; the cabin filled with fumes.
Narrative: Upon starting APU and turning on bleed air; we immediately noticed on flight deck a medium/strong smell of burning oil/stale smell. I asked [the] First Officer to concur which he did while opening his flight deck window. I turned off pack #1 and I started to call B Flight Attendant in back; but before I could she called me and stated that they had a very oily suffocating smell in back of aircraft. I immediately turned off APU bleed air and pack #2. I pulled up the odor removal checklist in FOM and told flight attendants to open up back doors to get air flow through cabin. Contacted Maintenance Control and Dispatch. Flight attendants complained of headache; sore throat; stinging eyes. My First Officer and I only experienced sore throat and stinging eyes. We de-boarded aircraft per [Operations Control]. Passengers were sent to another aircraft. EMS responded to check out crew. I told [the] flight attendants they certainly could go to hospital to be further evaluated-they did not. I completed the odor/fumes report. Crew was released as they had replaced all of us. These events are occurring far too frequently. The pack burnout procedures are not always being followed correctly. This is a safety issue for both crews and passengers. Once a pack is contaminated with oil; in my opinion it needs to be replaced; even though this is a huge economic constraint. You can't get much of the contaminants out of system.
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.