We are the Aerotoxic Association
Dedicated to supporting those affected by Aerotoxic Syndrome
Press Release, September 27th 2023
PRESS RELEASE: Aerotoxic Syndrome
Hearing to be held before the Paris Court of Appeal
To this day, neither airlines nor airplane manufacturers fully appreciate the risks to flight crews and passengers.
The French organization AVSA, the Association des Victimes du Syndrome Aérotoxique, is the source of the press release. According to AVSA, they must “Disseminate to the authorities and the public any pertinent information relating to the presence and spread of contaminating substances deemed hazardous to health in or outside of civil aircraft operated in public or private transport.” (AVSA website)
On the 27th of September 2023, a hearing will be held before the Paris Court of Appeal concerning the admission of the Association des Victimes du Syndrome Aérotoxique (AVSA) and Air France employees as civil parties to a judicial investigation currently underway at the Paris Public Health Investigation Department on charges of :
‘Unintentional injury resulting in total incapacity to work for more than three months, as provided for and punishable under articles 222-19, 222-44, and 222-46 of the Code of Health.’
‘Endangering the lives of others through a manifestly deliberate breach of a regulatory obligation of safety or prudence, as provided for and punishable under articles 223-1, 223-18 and 223-20 of the French Criminal Code.’
(The above video is also available in English, Spanish, and German)
This legal investigation results from a complaint lodged in 2016 by two pilots of the airline easyJet, who were exposed to substances that contaminated the aircraft cabin air. The term ‘Aerotoxic Syndrome’ (← read about it) refers to the health effects of these exposures.
Read the Press Release in its entirety in French “COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE – Audience devant la Cour d’appel de Paris” HERE.
Please stay tuned (subscribe) for updates. More in-depth information about the health problems of contaminated cabin air, the reasons, medical protocols and much more on UNFILTERED (English and Spanish) and of course AVSA.(French).
Subscribe (it’s still free) and share – please also ‘like’ to help spread the word. Many thanks.
Airline industry must implement new cabin air standards
November 11th 2022
Adverse synergies between inhaled carbon monoxide and tricresyl phosphate in
aircraft cabin air
August 30th 2022
Click to read/download the paper: Adverse Synergies
Anatomy of an Occupational Hazard by UK-USA A Group
July 14th 2022
Click to read/download the paper: Anatomy of an Occupational Hazard
Aerotoxic Syndrome – A New Occupational Disease
July 8th 2022
Click to read/download the paper: Aerotoxic syndrome – A new occupational disease caused by contaminated cabin air
What is Aerotoxic Syndrome?
2019 Cabin Event
The term Aerotoxic Syndrome describes acquired acute & chronic ill health caused by exposure to toxic oil fumes present in the breathing air of most commercial jets. Unaware, thousands of people suffer every day, without knowing about this hidden health and safety hazard.
A US doctor and scientists from France, Australia were the first to identify Aerotoxic Syndrome in 1999. The hidden illness is known to affect the central nervous system and brain, causing a range of acute symptoms and long-term ill-health in around 30% of all flyers.
An oil fume event was photographed by passengers on a flight from London Heathrow to Valencia in August 2019.
The full account of the incident can be found here.
Article by Chris Booker in The Daily Telegraph June 24 2007
Aerotoxic Association Founder Captain John Hoyte
John is a career pilot who began flying in 1976 with a varied international flying teaching career but ceased flying BAe146’s jets prematurely after 16 years because of increasingly severe neurological & physical symptoms with ‘Chronic stress’ in mid-2005.
In early 2006, John was tested by University College London (UCL) along with 26 other British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) pilots, 100% of whom showed evidence of Toxic Air exposure, which was later published by Dr Sarah Mackenzie Ross of UCL.
John founded the Aerotoxic Association Ltd. Charity in 2007 to help support other survivors (both aircrew & passengers) and to work with international groups such as the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE) which was formed in 2006 to counter the still existing formal position of ‘No positive evidence’ by governments and industry.
Many international professional groups now work for the formal acceptance of Aerotoxic Syndrome as an Occupational Disease, the illness was first defined in 1999 by a US doctor, a forensic scientist from France and an Australian toxicologist and for the urgent introduction of the known and now available technical solutions such as filtration and monitors which is in the public interest.
John has published evidence, which is in the public interest of anyone who flies in unfiltered & unmonitored bleed air jets on aerotoxic.org since 2007. He has recovered most of his previous excellent health due to pioneering Simulator Flying and other public flight entertainment systems from 2015-2019 and now holds a Class 2 Aviation medical certificate and looks forward to return to his lifelong passion of flying.
John has helped fund & produce educational films and published books on Aerotoxic & his flying career.
John recently presented the Associations/Unions ‘Wish list’ for some of the 1.5 million Euros for ‘Further research’ into toxic cabin air to Airlines, Manufacturers, Researchers & Regulators at EASA’s (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) first ever ‘Cabin Air’ workshop in Cologne, Germany in January 2020.
As a result of two new UK/USA published peer reviewed reports on 8 & 14 July 2022 which have introduced the new theory that Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a chemical of concern and when low cost CO sensors are used in public transport jets, the public will at last know the actual levels of CO in jet cabin.
If you are interested in professional consultation into any aspects of aerotoxic syndrome, please contact John – but please note that he is NOT medically or legally qualified to offer medical or legal advice or treatments, which are carried out by other specialist experts.
18th June 2007 The Launch of Aerotoxic Association Ltd. The Charity (2007) Non-profit. At Houses of Parliament, London.
LHS. Capt. John Hoyte Paper – Dr. Susan Michaelis Tin – Capt. Tristan Loraine RHS Capt. Julian Soddy (BALPA)LPA)
How You Can Help
- Sign this petition and then share it
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- Make a donation to help fund our campaigning
Press Articles: The Shropshire Star
Grounded Angel says flying wrecked her health
For Angel Brain her job as an air stewardess was a dream which turned into a nightmare.
Pilot fights for Aerotoxic Syndrome to be officially recognised
When John Hoyte left Shropshire as a pilot in 1987 little did he know the battle he was to have with a serious illness he says was brought on by flying jets across Europe.
Shropshire pilot welcomes breakthrough in fight against debilitating syndrome
A Shropshire pilot is leading an international fight for official recognition of a debilitating syndrome affecting many flyers and has won the support of US politicians and legislators with his colleague’s campaign.
New report into syndrome affecting pilots welcomed by Shropshire man
When John Hoyte left Shropshire as a pilot in 1987 little did he know the battle he was to have with a serious illness he says was brought on by flying jets across Europe.
Cabin Air Quality in the News
Airlines must stop buck passing and take immediate action on toxic air
Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, which represents thousands of cabin crew, is demanding airlines take immediate action to stop aerotoxic fume events occurring during flights.
File On 4: Something in the air?
In January 2020, a British Airways flight from Athens to London issued a “Mayday” emergency call when the pilot flying the plane became incapacitated during a “fume event”…
BBC: Fume events: The toxic gases that may be harming aircrew and passengers
An incident in January, when a pilot became unresponsive at the controls of a plane coming in to land at Heathrow, is just the latest in a string of potentially dangerous “fume events” going back decades, reports the BBC’s Mike Powell.
Occupational risk of organophosphates and other chemical and radiative exposure in the aircraft cabin: A systematic review
by Kevin Hayes, David Megson, Aidan Doyle, Gwen O’Sullivan.
Ex flight attendant won lawsuit over toxic air in the cabin and her battle isn’t over
Former flight attendant Evelyn van den Heuvel has won a lawsuit over her disability. she is partially incapacitated for work due to toxic substances in the cabins of aircraft in which she worked. That has been ruled by the highest court in the field of social security.
LA TIMES: We are slowly being poisoned
Tellmann and the captain parked the Airbus A319 at the gate. But they had no memory of landing or taxiing Spirit Airlines Flight 708. Tellmann went to the hospital for treatment and spent the next week at home in bed, vomiting and shaking and feeling “like a freight train had run over us,” he said in a letter to his union about the July 2015 event.
A new sensor by Teledyne – ACES has been produced
Until now, airlines haven’t had the means to record and measure the quality of their cabin environment consistently, with objective data. A new solution from Teledyne Controls focused on cabin air quality data is seeking to solve this problem. Inflight Editor Alexander Preston asks the questions.
BBC Today – 24 September 2009 ‘Can planes be poisonous?’
The BBC has been told of new research linking toxins found in the air systems of commercial airliners and neurological damage suffered by pilots.
‘I couldn’t feel my hands and legs’: Is toxic air poisoning pilots, passengers and crew?
Dutch flight attendant Evelyn van den Heuvel has flown all over the world with airline KLM, from Africa and the Americas to the Middle East and Asia, but she says all of this has come at a huge cost to her health.
H.R.7267 – Cabin Air Safety Act of 2022
A bill directly from Congress.
After Times investigation, Congress is moving to curb toxic fumes on airplanes
The airline industry would be forced to adopt new measures to protect passengers and crew members from toxic fumes on airplanes under a bill introduced in Congress this week.
Boeing settles “toxic air” case hours before the trial
For decades there have been complaints about the system most Boeing commercial planes use to pump oxygen into the cabin; But hours before the Chicago-based company is scheduled to stand trial to answer allegations that toxic air contributed to a person’s death, Boeing has settled.
Grounded Flight Attendant Say Flying Wrecked Her Health. For Angel Brain her job as an air stewardess was a dream which turned into a nightmare.
2013 Australia ABC 60 Minutes Documentary ‘Toxic Flyer’ describes Aerotoxic Syndrome in 15 mins
Toxic Airplane Cabin Air
– KJC Law Firm
The Secret Risks of Flying: Aerotoxic Syndrome Explained
– KJC Law Firm
What is Aerotoxic Syndrome?
– KJC Law Firm
POSITIVE EVIDENCE
Flight No. XLA 120 1st February 2007
Evidence of Aerotoxic Poisoning?
Perhaps the best chronicled European accident of “aerotoxic poisoning” to present happened on 1st February 2007 when a group of around 40 British passengers were poisoned on flight XLA 120 from London Gatwick, UK to Sanford International, Florida, US. Read more…
30th October 2020
Automatic reply from Baroness Vere to Aerotoxic Association – 20 business days. Expected by 27th November 2020.
30th October 2020
Aerotoxic Association letter to Baroness Vere of Norbiton concerning Aerotoxic poisoning.
3rd June 2019
Member of Parliament Fiona Bruce letter to pilot constituent concerning Government policy on Aerotoxic poisoning.
26th May 2019
Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister of Aviation replies to Fiona Bruce, Member of Parliament with UK Government policy on Aerotoxic Poisoning.
Film: A Dark Reflection
The film is based on actual events. A journalist digs deep into the world of aviation and discovers some uncomfortable truths and a conspiracy trail dating back to 1954. But why is no one saying anything? Funded entirely by airline crews globally wanting the story to be made public. Watch on Amazon.
Other Links
Aerotoxic Syndrome on the Aircrew Remembered site.
