Narrative:

On taxi out I was sitting at jumpseat 1L outboard and caught a smell of a sweet smelling chemical. I called the cockpit to inform captain and first officer of the smell and that I could not discern where it was coming from. They decided to take off and after take off I investigated further to see where the smell was coming from. I stopped at 2L to advise one of the other flight attendants of the odor. I made my way through the economy cabin and all along trying to see if I could find the source of the smell. When I got back to 3L I told the two aft flight attendants of the odor and at that point one of them said she had a real good nose and would come up. She said she caught the smell around row 4 and forward when she was walking up to first class. At this point we still could not discern where the smell was coming from. We started our service and about 40-45 minutes into the flight is when we discovered the smell was coming from the chillers and the carts in the first class galley. I asked an aft flight attendant to come up from economy and help us 'sniff out' the smell with her keen nose. She came up and took a good whiff in the cart and said 'oh yes that's the smell' as she stood up she said she felt very dizzy. This was when I turned off the chillers and we continued our service. I called the cockpit and told them where the smell was coming from and that I turned off the chillers. When we began picking up the first class cabin and we were part way through I told the other forward flight attendant 'let's turn the carts around.' we suspected that it may be the freon or refrigerant that was in the chillers and when the vented side is against the dampers it pushes them open and may be leaking into the galley. We were feeling a little woozy and dizzy. I notified the cockpit that we were not feeling well and that we were opening up the oxygen in the aft galley. I advised them it was the three of us and that one was not affected since she stayed out of the first class galley. I told them we would get back to them after we ate something and took some oxygen. I was the first to take oxygen at about 2 hours into flt for 10 minutes then the other two affected. I called the cockpit and advised that this helped and I was feeling a little better. I returned to first class and continued w/our service of drinks. I sat down on the jumpseat at 1L because all of a sudden I was not feeling well and I started to shake and got real dizzy had a hard time breathing and had a headache. I called the cockpit and told them my symptoms and that I would be going back for more oxygen. It was about a half hour later at this time and I took oxygen for 15 minutes I called the cockpit and told them the 3 of us were not feeling well at all. I also told them that our passenger in xa (retired navy pilot) had walked into first class to talk to his friend in xc and he told us he caught a smell that reminded him of freon. I called the cockpit to advise them the oxygen helped; but the three of us were not feeling well and that we all were dizzy; had headaches and some chest pains. I also told them every time I entered the first class galley I got an instant headache. I inquired if we were close to either to a hub station thinking that if we were close to a hub we could get assistance and not inconvenience our 182 passengers. The pilots contacted company medical to inquire if there would be any harm to us if we were to continue. At this point we determined we needed to stay out of the first class galley and we quickly went and secured the galley and grabbed a few items for any beverage refills. The passenger seated in seat xc (retired navy submarine officer) had gotten up to talk to his friend in xa and when he was talking with us at the auxiliary galley he commented that when he got up his cheeks were tingling and he was a little dizzy. He said he had that happen on the submarine once and it was a freon leak in the sub. We shared with him what was going on with us and how we were feeling. We called the cockpit and advised them of this. The cockpit told me that medical told them that if we keep out of the first class galley and periodically take oxygen that we should be okay to continue. The cockpit asked if we were okay to perform our safety duties and we all felt at this point we could. However; I asked the cockpit to make sure wherever we landed I wanted EMS to check us out when we landed. The dizziness and headaches continued for me and another flight attendant said she still felt lethargic; dizzy and woozy and 'just not right' as she put it. One flight attendant was starting to feel worse; had a hard time focusing and felt a fever coming on. The aft-most flight attendant was still okay since we kept her out of the first class galley. We continued on to our destination and the aircraft landed normally. We taxied in normally. At this point I felt my cognitive abilities were compromised since I had a difficult time piecing words together and felt like I was slurring. We disarmed our doors and I cross-checked myself several times. EMS was waiting for us on the jetway. EMS came onboard to first class and talked to me and escorted me off the aircraft. One of the outbound flight attendants got onboard to take my place. EMS checked us all out and it was suggested that we get further examination in the er. We were transported by ambulance to a medical center and were attended to by doctors; oxygen was given and chest x-rays were taken. A diagnosis of inhalation injury was given. We were released by the doctors took a taxi to the hotel and spent the night. We deadheaded back on to our base and the base safety advocate met our flight to check on us. She informed us that the chiller in first class was replaced after two legs as a maintenance station and a freon leak was found. This report is being filed to show how quickly a situation can go from bad to worse and having only FAA minimums onboard can potentially put the passengers at risk. We had only 1 flight attendant that was not affected by the fumes. If we had any other situations onboard we would have been in trouble. As it is I could not get off the aircraft immediately upon arrival to seek medical treatment until we had someone in place to meet minimums onboard the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Flight Attendant reported that a first class galley chiller freon leak detected initially during taxi; and then through the flight allegedly made three flight attendants ill. They sought medical attention after the flight and were diagnosed with 'inhalation injury.'

Narrative: On taxi out I was sitting at jumpseat 1L outboard and caught a smell of a sweet smelling chemical. I called the cockpit to inform Captain and First Officer of the smell and that I could not discern where it was coming from. They decided to take off and after take off I investigated further to see where the smell was coming from. I stopped at 2L to advise one of the other flight attendants of the odor. I made my way through the economy cabin and all along trying to see if I could find the source of the smell. When I got back to 3L I told the two aft flight attendants of the odor and at that point one of them said she had a real good nose and would come up. She said she caught the smell around row 4 and forward when she was walking up to first class. At this point we still could not discern where the smell was coming from. We started our service and about 40-45 minutes into the flight is when we discovered the smell was coming from the chillers and the carts in the first class galley. I asked an aft Flight Attendant to come up from economy and help us 'sniff out' the smell with her keen nose. She came up and took a good whiff in the cart and said 'oh yes that's the smell' as she stood up she said she felt very dizzy. This was when I turned off the chillers and we continued our service. I called the cockpit and told them where the smell was coming from and that I turned off the chillers. When we began picking up the first class cabin and we were part way through I told the other forward Flight Attendant 'let's turn the carts around.' We suspected that it may be the freon or refrigerant that was in the chillers and when the vented side is against the dampers it pushes them open and may be leaking into the galley. We were feeling a little woozy and dizzy. I notified the cockpit that we were not feeling well and that we were opening up the oxygen in the aft galley. I advised them it was the three of us and that one was not affected since she stayed out of the first class galley. I told them we would get back to them after we ate something and took some oxygen. I was the first to take oxygen at about 2 hours into flt for 10 minutes then the other two affected. I called the cockpit and advised that this helped and I was feeling a little better. I returned to first class and continued w/our service of drinks. I sat down on the jumpseat at 1L because all of a sudden I was not feeling well and I started to shake and got real dizzy had a hard time breathing and had a headache. I called the cockpit and told them my symptoms and that I would be going back for more oxygen. It was about a half hour later at this time and I took oxygen for 15 minutes I called the cockpit and told them the 3 of us were not feeling well at all. I also told them that our passenger in XA (retired Navy pilot) had walked into first class to talk to his friend in XC and he told us he caught a smell that reminded him of freon. I called the cockpit to advise them the oxygen helped; but the three of us were not feeling well and that we all were dizzy; had headaches and some chest pains. I also told them every time I entered the first class galley I got an instant headache. I inquired if we were close to either to a hub station thinking that if we were close to a hub we could get assistance and not inconvenience our 182 passengers. The pilots contacted Company medical to inquire if there would be any harm to us if we were to continue. At this point we determined we needed to stay out of the first class galley and we quickly went and secured the galley and grabbed a few items for any beverage refills. The passenger seated in seat XC (retired Navy submarine officer) had gotten up to talk to his friend in XA and when he was talking with us at the auxiliary galley he commented that when he got up his cheeks were tingling and he was a little dizzy. He said he had that happen on the submarine once and it was a freon leak in the sub. We shared with him what was going on with us and how we were feeling. We called the cockpit and advised them of this. The cockpit told me that medical told them that if we keep out of the first class galley and periodically take oxygen that we should be okay to continue. The cockpit asked if we were okay to perform our safety duties and we all felt at this point we could. However; I asked the cockpit to make sure wherever we landed I wanted EMS to check us out when we landed. The dizziness and headaches continued for me and another Flight Attendant said she still felt lethargic; dizzy and woozy and 'just not right' as she put it. One Flight Attendant was starting to feel worse; had a hard time focusing and felt a fever coming on. The aft-most Flight Attendant was still okay since we kept her out of the first class galley. We continued on to our destination and the aircraft landed normally. We taxied in normally. At this point I felt my cognitive abilities were compromised since I had a difficult time piecing words together and felt like I was slurring. We disarmed our doors and I cross-checked myself several times. EMS was waiting for us on the jetway. EMS came onboard to first class and talked to me and escorted me off the aircraft. One of the outbound flight attendants got onboard to take my place. EMS checked us all out and it was suggested that we get further examination in the ER. We were transported by ambulance to a Medical Center and were attended to by doctors; oxygen was given and chest x-rays were taken. A diagnosis of Inhalation Injury was given. We were released by the doctors took a taxi to the hotel and spent the night. We deadheaded back on to our base and the base Safety Advocate met our flight to check on us. She informed us that the chiller in first class was replaced after two legs as a Maintenance station and a freon leak was found. This report is being filed to show how quickly a situation can go from bad to worse and having only FAA minimums onboard can potentially put the passengers at risk. We had only 1 Flight Attendant that was not affected by the fumes. If we had any other situations onboard we would have been in trouble. As it is I could not get off the aircraft immediately upon arrival to seek medical treatment until we had someone in place to meet minimums onboard the aircraft.

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.