Narrative:

After takeoff; the B flight attendant called and said she smelled a fume-like odor in the back of the cabin. For performance reasons we had used the APU for an APU bleed-on takeoff; and my first thought was that the odor was due to the APU being in use on takeoff. I asked if the odor was getting stronger or dissipating; and the flight attendant said that it was dissipating. That further reinforced my suspicion the source was the APU; which was now off. I asked the a and C flight attendant's in the front of the cabin if they smelled it; and the a said no and the C said 'a little.' I waited a few minutes and then asked again and was told that it was now only barely noticeable. I therefore decided to continue to our destination. After about 20 minutes and about 80 miles from our destination; the B flight attendant called again; now sounding very concerned; and said the odor was back and was getting worse. I asked the other flight attendants if they smelled it and they concurred. At that time I detected a faint 'dirty sock-like' smell. The B flight attendant said she now was feeling symptoms such as headache; tingling in her fingers; and throat irritation. Because the flight attendant was being physically affected by the fumes; which were now increasing in intensity; I thought it best to land as soon as possible. I said to the first officer that I thought we should get on the ground as soon as possible and he concurred. I declared an emergency; told ATC we had fumes in the cabin; and that we wanted direct to our destination. We performed the smoke/fumes emergency checklist. We were met at the gate by medical personnel who attended to the B flight attendant. No one else complained of symptoms. After answering everyone's questions and getting a replacement flight attendant the crew continued on the trip. The B flight attendant was taken to the hospital for treatment and released later that night. She will be undergoing more tests. I believe this was somehow related to the APU bleed use on takeoff and fumes from the APU getting into the air conditioning system. The exact cause will have to be determined by maintenance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 Captain reported that after an APU Bleed ON takeoff the B Flight Attendant reported a dirty sock smell which dissipated but returned stronger; so an emergency was declared and the Flight Attendant taken to the hospital after the flight.

Narrative: After takeoff; the B Flight Attendant called and said she smelled a fume-like odor in the back of the cabin. For performance reasons we had used the APU for an APU Bleed-On takeoff; and my first thought was that the odor was due to the APU being in use on takeoff. I asked if the odor was getting stronger or dissipating; and the Flight Attendant said that it was dissipating. That further reinforced my suspicion the source was the APU; which was now off. I asked the A and C Flight Attendant's in the front of the cabin if they smelled it; and the A said no and the C said 'a little.' I waited a few minutes and then asked again and was told that it was now only barely noticeable. I therefore decided to continue to our destination. After about 20 minutes and about 80 miles from our destination; the B Flight Attendant called again; now sounding very concerned; and said the odor was back and was getting worse. I asked the other Flight Attendants if they smelled it and they concurred. At that time I detected a faint 'dirty sock-like' smell. The B Flight Attendant said she now was feeling symptoms such as headache; tingling in her fingers; and throat irritation. Because the Flight Attendant was being physically affected by the fumes; which were now increasing in intensity; I thought it best to land ASAP. I said to the First Officer that I thought we should get on the ground ASAP and he concurred. I declared an emergency; told ATC we had fumes in the cabin; and that we wanted direct to our destination. We performed the Smoke/Fumes emergency checklist. We were met at the gate by medical personnel who attended to the B Flight Attendant. No one else complained of symptoms. After answering everyone's questions and getting a replacement flight attendant the crew continued on the trip. The B Flight Attendant was taken to the hospital for treatment and released later that night. She will be undergoing more tests. I believe this was somehow related to the APU bleed use on takeoff and fumes from the APU getting into the air conditioning system. The exact cause will have to be determined by Maintenance.

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.