A320
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240; Flight Crew Total 16000; Flight Crew Type 10000
Physiological - Other
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Aircraft; Human Factors
We were at cruise FL350. There was a line of weather to our east and south and we were IMC and started getting turbulence. It was enough that we had some power fluctuations. Within a minute I smelled the smell; hot; sour; musty odor. My eyes and throat felt dry and burned. Within a minute of that; we got a call from the cabin that they were smelling the fumes also. I told them I would call them back as soon as we addressed the issue. Because we were still in radar contact; I told First Officer (FO) to get the checklist up and I sent a message to Dispatch to let them know before we got to class II. My thought was they would turn us around or send us to ZZZ or ZZZ1; but they wanted us to continue. We ran the isolation checklist; but the smell was dissipating so we were never able to isolate it. All the while were in turbulence and deviating. Over the next 2 hours we had 10 or more fumes events where it was a burst of smell then dissipation. 4 of the events led to FO and I putting on our oxygen masks. Right before reentering ZZZ2 airspace; we got a message from Dispatch that they were considering sending us to ZZZ1. We felt that was the best and safest course of action; but then they said they wanted us to press on. Because we didn't feel incapacitated and there was no guidance to divert. We felt pressured to continue on to ZZZZ knowing that wasn't a decision made with safety as a priority. We continued to ZZZZ; our conscience bothering us; and had a couple more fumes events. The last being when we transferred the bleeds from the engines to the APU. Upon reaching ZZZZ; we contacted Medlink and relayed our symptoms. Symptoms of exposure were: headaches; burning eyes and throats; nausea; light headedness; and numbness in extremities. I was told by Medlink that my symptoms warranted medical attention and that mine weren't even the worst symptoms. Every person on my crew should call them. I was not comfortable with going to an emergency room in ZZZZ so I agreed to do subsequent phone evals with medlink and get back to anywhere in the US for evaluation. In the end; medlink released me; but recommended seeing my doctor at my earliest convenience. I was alarmed at the onset and severity of the symptoms. They did seem to ease fairly quickly after getting fresh air and more water; but never completely went away. Another concern outside of all of this was inflight leadership response. The conditions that two of them were suffering were far more severe than mine. But they were actually afraid to call medlink or get checked out because they spoke to two inflight supervisors. One of those two supervisors told our inflight: 'under no circumstance are you to contact medlink.' and 'you are only allowed to contact medlink if you are incapacitated.' In the end they contacted medlink after receiving guidance outside [company] inflight leadership that they should follow FAM (Flight Attendant Manual) guidance and 'take personal health seriously.' My biggest concerns are the reoccurring fumes events and the downplay by the company. Being pressured to continue the mission despite safety. Finally; feel of repercussions for taking one's own health into consideration.
A320 Captain reported an intermittent fume event resulting in physiological symptoms by entire crew. Reporter stated he felt pressured to continue to the destination in spite of cabin crew symptoms being more severe than flight crew. Entire crew received medical evaluation after flight.