A report written by a British Airways cabin-crew director, and seen by The Sunday Times of London, said the flight attendants aboard an A380 that took off from San Francisco for London then diverted to land in Vancouver, Canada, last month, were vomiting and acting strangely in response to toxic fumes in the cabin. Some of the attendants appeared disoriented. One curled up on the floor with a blanket over his head. Others seemed to wander in the cabin. Twelve crew members displayed symptoms that gave “cause for concern,” the report said, according to the Times. They reported dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, nausea, itchy red eyes, aggression, forgetfulness, confusion and more. Eight of the nine crew on the upper deck, plus the captain, used emergency oxygen.
The airplane had more than 400 passengers on board. All 25 crew members were taken to local hospitals for evaluation where they were checked and released. None of the passengers were checked and they reported they were left on the aircraft for about 30 minutes after the entire crew disembarked. Toxic fumes in the cabin created a strong noxious smell similar to burning plastic, according to the Times. The flight had taken off in San Francisco, with a destination of Heathrow, outside of London. It was over Regina, Saskatchewan, about 1,200 miles from Vancouver, when the flight was diverted first to Calgary and finally to Vancouver. The diversion took more than two hours.
