The FAA reports that at least two Alaska Airlines flight attendants became incapacitated due to fumes on Saturday’s flight 952 from Maui to Seattle.
According to the reliable Aviation Herald, the Boeing 737-800 was en route at 34,000 feet over the Pacific, approximately 300 nautical miles from Maui, when the problem occurred. The flight diverted to Honolulu, and they summoned medical personnel. This diversion was confirmed by the flight tracking service FlightAware.
It is unclear from the report whether two or more of the flight attendants reported feeling dizzy. They apparently “recovered for a bit of time, but then the symptoms returned, prompting the plane to divert to Honolulu.”
Honolulu Airport problems further aggravated the emergency situation.
While it was approaching the airport, nearly two hours after departure from Maui, the aircraft was advised to taxi to a gate at Honolulu Airport to meet medical personnel. As you know, however, gate availability and flight delays are serious problems there.
“Gate personnel had not yet arrived at the gate…The aircraft taxied speedily to the apron with emergency services in trail, who prepared to establish a triage at the gate. All 4 cabin crew received minor injuries.” What kind of injuries was unclear.
It is being reported, but we could not confirm, that the aircraft is still on the ground in Honolulu.
Cause of the incident is unknown thus far.
Others have speculated that the incident may have resulted from an issue with the plane’s auxiliary power unit. We are awaiting more information and will update you as soon as we learn more. Also, why was it only the cabin crew reporting dizziness and not the passengers? We speculate that when this happened at 34,000 feet, the cabin crew probably stood in the back galley getting ready to provide service. It’s also possible the issue started before passengers boarded the plane.
Flights must be canceled with multiple crew members incapacitated.
We understand that the aircraft would have had at least four cabin attendants on board, and if two or more became ill, that would have required the flight to be terminated. The issue appears to have impacted only the cabin crew and did not involve the flight crew.
AS 952 flight path per FlightAware.
We were a party of Six on the flight in the front of the Cabin. I fell asleep before taking off. I awoke blown away to see the stewardess on supplemental oxygen and hearing f we were landing in Hawaii in Oahu instead of OGG. My party said they smelled some chemical smell, had head aches and some Reported eyes burning. We were escorted upon landing by fire trucks, police and ems. We got in a midnight and were told to stay in the airport gate until further notice. We didn’t get things sorted out until 4ish when we had to sleep. Still Haven’t been informed what we may have been exposed to. I heard it was most concentrated in The front of the plane.
These “Fume” events can contain Neurotoxins and have very serious health effects— there is help for any passenger or crew that is feeling unwell from this flight- the Association of Flight Attendants National Safety Chair- Judith Anderson has dealt with these kinds of events for over 3 decades… it’s important to get accurate information and support- if you know of someone that was on that flight and has ‘the flu like symptoms’- there Is Help.
Boeing and the aerospace industry have known since the 1950s that the breathing air supply (known as ‘bleed air’) can become contaminated with engine oil or hydraulic fluid decomposition products. Air accident departments in 12 countries have made over 50 recommendations and findings on this issue. As crews and passengers have been impaired and flight safety has been compromised the British Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) twice recommended to the FAA that all aircraft should have contaminated air warning systems fitted to warn crews when the air is contaminated but the FAA has not acted on these key safety recommendations. Google ‘Global Cabin Air Quality Executive’ or ‘Aerotoxic Syndrome’ for more info.