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Multiple flight attendants aboard an overwater B777 suffered physiological disorientation possibly associated with fumes from hazmat. The flight diverted for an inspection but no anomalies were found.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 888034 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201004 |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B767-300 and 300 ER |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb Cruise Descent Initial Approach Landing |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Flight Attendant (On Duty) |
| Qualification | Flight Attendant Current |
| Experience | Flight Attendant Airline Total 25 Flight Attendant Number Of Acft Qualified On 4 Flight Attendant Total 30 Flight Attendant Type 90 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
After take-off the forward crew; (purser; galley; and 2 aisle flight attendants) was doing the service. From almost the beginning we were experiencing equilibrium issues that we attributed to the aircraft making turns; or banking. These continued and became progressively worse. At one point; all 4 flight attendants were standing together and simultaneously grabbed the walls as a feeling of the plane 'bottoming' out happened. We contacted the cockpit who said the aircraft had been flying straight and level the entire flight. They performed a procedure to evacuate the air and bring in clean air. Our symptoms did not improve. The captain called dispatch and was informed that we were carrying hazmat in the form of aircraft parts and that our symptoms would be consistent with breathing fumes from this. The galley flight attendant began to have asthmatic issues; and we all began to have stomach cramping and head-aches. However; these symptoms did not seem to affect anyone who was seated or in the aft part of the aircraft. The captain decided to divert to an en route alternate.upon landing; there were 2 aft flight attendants and a fam that said they smelled fumes and their eyes started burning. The crew forward also experienced eyes burning but we never detected any fume smell. After landing; the hazmat crew did not find anything and the cargo appeared to be sealed correctly. The crew was evaluated by a physician; the flight attendant who was having asthma was placed on O2 and the rest appeared ok except for high blood pressure. The doctor could not find any visible issues. Even though the company and independent hazmat team determined that the hazmat aboard could not have caused our symptoms; I am convinced that there was some sort of 'leakage' of the solvents in the form of odorless; colorless fumes that was robbing us of our O2; and causing us to have a slow hypoxia. As it only affected those who were still up and working; I assume our O2 was depleted before the other flight attendants and passengers were able to detect symptoms. The flight attendant experiencing asthma also felt he was having problems with decision making and was nauseous. I also felt nausea and severe stomach cramping as well as the headache and burning eyes.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Multiple flight attendants aboard an overwater B777 suffered physiological disorientation possibly associated with fumes from hazmat. The flight diverted for an inspection but no anomalies were found.
Narrative: After take-off the forward crew; (purser; galley; and 2 aisle Flight Attendants) was doing the service. From almost the beginning we were experiencing equilibrium issues that we attributed to the aircraft making turns; or banking. These continued and became progressively worse. At one point; all 4 flight attendants were standing together and simultaneously grabbed the walls as a feeling of the plane 'bottoming' out happened. We contacted the cockpit who said the aircraft had been flying straight and level the entire flight. They performed a procedure to evacuate the air and bring in clean air. Our symptoms did not improve. The Captain called Dispatch and was informed that we were carrying hazmat in the form of aircraft parts and that our symptoms would be consistent with breathing fumes from this. The galley Flight Attendant began to have asthmatic issues; and we all began to have stomach cramping and head-aches. However; these symptoms did not seem to affect anyone who was seated or in the aft part of the aircraft. The Captain decided to divert to an en route alternate.Upon landing; there were 2 aft flight attendants and a FAM that said they smelled fumes and their eyes started burning. The crew forward also experienced eyes burning but we never detected any fume smell. After landing; the hazmat crew did not find anything and the cargo appeared to be sealed correctly. The crew was evaluated by a physician; the Flight Attendant who was having asthma was placed on O2 and the rest appeared OK except for high blood pressure. The doctor could not find any visible issues. Even though the company and independent hazmat team determined that the hazmat aboard could not have caused our symptoms; I am convinced that there was some sort of 'leakage' of the solvents in the form of odorless; colorless fumes that was robbing us of our O2; and causing us to have a slow hypoxia. As it only affected those who were still up and working; I assume our O2 was depleted before the other flight attendants and passengers were able to detect symptoms. The Flight Attendant experiencing asthma also felt he was having problems with decision making and was nauseous. I also felt nausea and severe stomach cramping as well as the headache and burning eyes.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.