Cleaning fluid spill sees American jet diverted to Dublin
By Steve Creedy Tue Oct 22, 2019
An American Airlines flight from London Heathrow to Philadelphia may have turned out to be a knockout in more ways than one.
The Airbus A330 was about 170km southwest of Shannon airport in Ireland when the crew reported a chemical odor on board.
According to The Aviation Herald, two flight attendants passed out prompting a decision to divert to Dublin.
The two cabin crew regained consciousness and the and the crew were able to identify the spillage coming from a canister with aircraft interior cleaner that had been left in the plane at Heathrow.
The cleaning fluid, apparently containing derivatives of ammonium chloride, had spilled on the carpet, causing passengers to complain about respiratory and eye infections.
A passenger on the plane, Katie Phillips, told CNN the odor was slightly sweeter than fuel.
She people on the plane began to feel unwell after take-off and said she saw one crew member seemingly taken ill.
“She was surrounded by other staff members,’’ she said.
American said it was investigating the diversion “due to odor caused by a spilled cleaning solution in the galley”.
Paramedics attended the aircraft at the gate after it landed in Dublin about 1:15 pm local time and treated a number of passengers and crew.
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