A320
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Distraction; Time Pressure; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution
Aircraft; Equipment / Tooling
Just after rotation an acrid smell was detected followed shortly by unusual colored smoke/fumes mostly on the FO's side of the airplane. The FO immediately put on O2 mask because he didn't feel normal. On downwind; I called the FA's and number 1 reported that she didn't smell anything. We performed the QRC Smoke/Avionics smoke/fumes soon after detecting the acrid smell and this lessened the impact. After gate arrival; I was informed by flight attendants they were experiencing nausea and headaches plus the FO wasn't feeling well either. Oddly enough; I'm not aware of any passengers requesting medical assistance. After deplaning; FA's and FO's condition got worse so we requested medical assistance from airport EMT's. I know the EMT's administered meds to FO as well a IV bag plus the EMT's evaluated all crew then they released us to go to hospital. Since event occurred on the weekend; there seemed to be some confusion on what local facility could see and treat the crew for their medical condition. Also; local operations couldn't provide transportation for entire crew to the hospital. This caused some delay in getting the crew to a local hospital for treatment. The flight [crew] was taken by ambulance to hospital and I'm not sure who took FA's to a different hospital. For some reason the FA's were taken to a different hospital than the flight [crew] even though I requested we all go to same facility. Thanks to local chief pilot for making things happen in regards to getting us to local hospital for immediate care because I eventually started experiencing a headache and facial flushing. I don't believe I was functioning at a high level and this point. I was informed a day later that there was a leak in the APU system allowing fluid to get into aircraft air conditioning system. ZZZ needs to have a protocol in place for medical events that occur when their normal medical facility is closed. It shouldn't be up to the crew to determine what is a appropriate medical facility to go to for treatment.
A320 Captain reported acrid smell and smoke after rotation resulted in a return to the departure airport and the crew being transported to hospitals.