Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Physiological - Other
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation; General Maintenance Action; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Human Factors; Procedure; Aircraft
Day 1Once starting down my FO noticed an oily type smell. Moments later I smelled it; too. It was not intense; just a noticeable oily type smell. This occurred occasionally all the way down to landing; including taxi in. Neither one of us where too concerned about it but we felt it was enough to call Mx. We described the events to Mx who then dispatched our contract mechanic to the airplane. A mechanic came out to the airplane and did an inspection to see if there are any leaks. He did not see anything that would cause an odor that we described. At that point we decided to start boarding. When the first three elderly passengers were seated I noticed the temperature in the cabin was 84 degrees and I decided to start the APU to begin cooling down the cabin. When I turned the APU bleed to on; my FO and I received a significant blast of oily smell. I immediately turned off the APU bleed and the APU. I instructed the gate agents to stop boarding and then deplane the three passengers who had finally settled in. I then called Mx back and explained what we encountered. It took about 3 hours for the contract Mx personnel to do what they needed to clean the packs and attempt to find the source of the problem. They asked me and my FO if we could do an engine run up at the gate to see if we could isolate if it's coming from Pack 1; or Pack 2; or Bleed 1; or Bleed 2. We ran through each scenario starting with engine 2 and then each scenario with engine 2 with a mechanic in the cockpit. We did not experience any smell. After we shut engine number 1 down; the mechanic turned the APU bleed on and we again got a significant blast of oily smell. Both my FO and I put on our O2 masks and open the windows. It seemed safe to conclude the source was the APU bleed. Mx deferred the APU bleed. Looking back; Mx did not burn the packs off after the MEL deferral as they did before to troubleshoot the problem; therefore we took the airplane with re-contaminated packs.We boarded the airplane and were on our way. We detected no odor on the taxi out and takeoff. We did notice a little bit of smell on the climb only once for a short period of time. 45 minutes into the flight at cruise we again detected the oily smell; but nothing significant. It came and went occasionally for approximately 10 minutes until we again receive a significant blast. My nose began to burn. We put on our O2 mask. I wore my O2 mask for approximately 2 minutes and then took it off to see if the odor dissipated. I could not detect the smell and my FO took his mask off. He could not detect anything. About 2 minutes after that we received another blast of oily smell at which time we both put our mask back on and advised ATC; and diverted to the nearest suitable airport. I was the flying pilot; and my FO ran the QRH for smoke/fumes during the descent.Upon landing we both opened our windows with our O2 mask off; breathed fresh air and taxied to our gate. After doing our routine post flight requirements for such an event; we left the airplane for the terminal. My FO whistled using his fingers at a young boy running away from his parents. He said his fingers tasted terrible; like hydraulic fluid. I called Mx to let them know what he had experienced to help them diagnose the problem. When we got to the hotel; my FO and I went out to dinner. I had a strong oily taste and my nose felt burned. We split the same meal together and had a couple beers. We returned to the hotel and went to bed.Day 2I woke up feeling sick [very early in the morning]. I went to the bathroom and had diarrhea; then vomited. I went back to bed feeling much better. I slept for about 2 hours and woke up feeling bad. From this point on I begin to lose track of time and can give only approximations of time and events; other than phone/text records. I called the duty manager and told him I'm not feeling good; I had a strong headache and that I threw up. The duty manager told me to call crew scheduling to callin sick and that he would start the OJI paperwork. He also told me he would get a phone number to the Nurse Line; which the company uses for sick employees and would call me back. I also called STAT-MD; spoke to a doctor and explained what happened. The doctor advised me to go to an emergency room. The duty manager called me back with the number and I told him what STAT-MD recommended. He said that's good; that he has no medical expertise and for me to do what I think is best; whether or not to go to the emergency room or call the hotline. I said ok and called the Nurse Line. While being held online for someone to answer I vomited again. At that point I decided to call 911. I told my FO what I was doing and he asked if he should come with me. I said yes; and that I would meet him downstairs in the lobby. I could not receive phone service on the elevator and called 911 in the lobby. By the time I reached the lobby I was having a difficult time concentrating while on the phone with 911; felt nauseous; walked out the front door and started to vomit several times outside the lobby door while finishing up my phone call with 911. About this time my FO appeared. The ambulance arrived and I sat in the back waiting for another ambulance to arrive who would take me to the hospital. I was feeling sick again while the EMT's were checking my vitals and was handed a bag to throw up. I vomited several times again. My FO said that it reeked like the same smell we had on the plane. The EMT said he smelled it; too. My FO asked him what it smelled like to him and the EMT said it smell like a petroleum product. The oily taste was intense in my mouth. I also began to have an intense headache. I was admitted to the hospital and it took; I believe; 3 hours for them to get the vomiting to stop and the intense headache to subside. The last time I vomited the oily taste was the most intense during the entire event. I was given a CT scan of my head because of my headache and chest X-ray of my lungs. I began to feel better that afternoon and evening; although I still had the bad; oily taste in my mouth.Day 3The next morning; I felt much better and most of the oily taste in my mouth was dissipating. The rest of the day I felt wiped out and every once in a while I would get the oily taste in my mouth and a mild headache. Returned home that evening.Day 4No headache; but have a slight oily taste in my mouth. The best way to describe the oily smell/taste: Like sucking on a penny or a coin when we were kids. [We should have] specific training for this kind of event. I heard the source of the problem was an overfilled oil reservoir for the APU; which was subsequently sucked into the APU; APU bleed system which then in turn the packs. Maybe APU oil quantities should be verified by two people knowing the toxicity of oil and the potential harm; just as both pilots verify altitude changes in the cockpit.
During descent; the captain and I noticed an oily metallic smell in the cockpit. It was different than the usual airbus smells. It did not alarm us at that time. It occurred from about 27;000 feet down to landing and was intermittent.We called MX control and they dispatched a mechanic over. During the deplaning process while I was heading out to do the post flight; a passenger was talking and triggered me to ask them if they smelled anything. They said yes; it was strong and bad. They were in row 23. I made that aware to the captain and performed a postflight. During the postflight; I opened as many hatch's as I could and I noticed the smell strongest in the yellow hydraulic bay on the A/C right. I also noticed it in the forward portion of the aft cargo bin. When I returned to the cockpit; the MX person was there. We told him all of the information that we had; he walked through the cabin and we also re-checked the hydraulic bays. He smelled something there and stated that there was a lot of anti-corrosion spray and when it gets wet; it will smell. Other than that he said the plane smelled like an Airbus. We did not enter anything into the logbook at that time. We started boarding the A/C and when the cabin became too warm; we started the APU. There were about 3 people on at that time. When the APU bleed was turned on; the smell was intense. We stopped boarding; called MX and put an entry in the logbook. Two MX persons showed up and they smelled the fumes. While we waited they consulted with MX Control. They burned out the packs. Then asked us to help them do engine runs and we complied. We were trying to determine the source of the fumes. There were none noticeable on Engine 1 or 2. When the APU bleed was tested; the fumes were intense again. While they were trouble shooting; we sat in the cockpit for a while and eventually put on our O2 masks for the rest of the engine runs. We were told we were removed from trip and limo to ZZZ1. While heading for the limo we got a call that the plane was fixed. We were notified that they deferred the APU bleed; which was the source of the contamination/fumes. The Captain and I discussed it and chose to fly the plane. Since we smelled the fumes only in descent we assumed they were only intermittent; there was no irritation; we agreed that if we smelled fumes again we would write it up again. We used an external pneumatic air cart to start the a/c and a cross bleed start from engine 1 to 2. The APU bleed was not used after being deferred. In cruise flight; 36;000 feet; we started noticing the smell again in the cockpit. The odor was intensifying. We discussed our options; deemed that we were diverting to ZZZ (~160 miles west). We also discussed how to advise the already angered or irritated passengers that we were heading to ZZZ. During [the Captain's PA] statement to the PAX; the fumes became an irritant and became the most intense we had encountered. My eyes started burning along with my throat. The Captain's throat and nose started burning. We placed our O2 masks on and sent a quick note to dispatch and advised ATC. We were cleared direct. Being the PNF; I went through the Smoke/Fumes checklist and since we didn't need to troubleshoot I performed the smoke fumes removal portion once below 10k. The A/C landed safely.Two factors come to mind here. First; I talked with MX control the next day and was advised that they had determined that the APU oil was over-serviced. Second factor: MX Pack Burn/Troubleshooting Procedures. The packs need to be burned out before returning the A/C to service. In our case they were burned out to troubleshoot and the APU bleed was determined to be the cause. After the troubleshooting and the deferral of the APU bleed; the bleed system was not cleaned or burned out prior to the A/C being returned to service. Also; in the SMOKE/FUMES removal checklist; REMOVAL of SMOKE/FUMES; if no fuel vapors: PACK FLOW HI. In this case; it may have or it certainly could make the bleed fumes worse.
A319 flight crew reported an air-conditioning smoke event during descent that was believed to be caused by the APU and the APU was deferred. On the next leg the odor became intense and the crew diverted to a suitable airport. The Captain became quite sick the next day and checked himself into the hospital.