Standing ovation for Sussex based aviation consultant Dr Susan Michaelis
Dr Susan Michaelis, a former airline pilot, was ill health retired aged 34, in 1997 after repeat exposure to strange smells on the aircraft she flew. A dirty sock type of smell. When she asked engineers what the smell was, they said it was just engine oil and nothing to worry about.
Engine oils and their decomposition products were contaminating the breathing air she and passengers were being supplied. An air supply known in the industry as ‘bleed air’, as it is bled off the compression section of a jet engine. This is the source of the breathing air supply on all passenger jet aircraft, except for the Boeing 787 which uses electrical compressors.
Susan who is a qualified air accident investigator and who holds a PhD on the subject, has actively campaigned for 27 years, to improve the quality of the breathing air on passenger jet aircraft. She and many aviation crew unions are asking the industry to design all future aircraft like the Boeing 787 and install air cleaning technology and contaminated air warning systems on current aircraft.
Her closing speech at the recent Aircraft Cabin Air Conference in London, the biggest global conference on the issue, saw delegates give Susan a 5 minute standing ovation for her 27 years of work to enhance aviation safety and protect passenger and crew health.
The conference delegates were not the first to acknowledge her work, in 2023, Susan became the first Australian to receive a British Citizen Award in the House of Lords for her work in this field.
Susan’s closing personal journey speech called on engine manufacturers like Rolls-Royce, to qualify a newly developed reported ‘less hazardous’ engine oil. A new oil recently developed by French jet engine oil manufacturer NYCO. Currently jet engine oils that passengers and crews are exposed to come with material safety sheet warnings like: ‘Do not breathe mist or vapour from heated product, suspected of damaging fertility or suspected of harming the unborn.’ NYCO say their new oil is non-hazardous as it contains no ingredients deemed hazardous.
The aviation industry claims the air on aircraft is better than in your home. Susan who lost her career to contaminated air knows this is not always the case and urges aviation regulators to take steps to protect the travelling public. Susan in her moving closing speech reminded conference delegates that some used to say asbestosis and smoking were harmless and the industry should tell passengers when they are exposed and resolve this health and flight safety issue.
Susan's call to fit warning systems on aircraft is echoed by the British Air Accident Investigation's Branch (AAIB) who have twice recommended to safety agencies like the European EASA and the US FAA that all aircraft should have contaminated air warning systems.
Susan is Head of Research for the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE). The GCAQE is a global coalition of health and safety advocates committed to raising awareness and finding solutions to poor air quality on aircraft. GCAQE board member Captain Nicholas McHugh BSc(hon) recently stated:
'We hope jet engine manufacturers will prioritise the introduction of the reported new 'less hazardous' NYCO oil and any new oils that come to market that reduce the hazard for the aviation workers and passengers routinely exposed to engine oil and engine oil decomposition products on passenger aircraft. Government agencies responsible for aviation safety and public health should also be helping to expedite the introduction of these reported 'less hazardous' oils.'
The new antiwear additive used in the new NYCO oil was patented in 2021. The patent abstract stated:
'Disclosed is an oil that does not include tricresyl phosphate and includes as an anti-wear additive at least one diphosphorus compound for the prophylaxis of aerotoxic syndrome, especially in case of fume event. It also relates to a lubrication method utilizing such oil.'
The term Aerotoxic Syndrome was first proposed in 1999 to summarise the medical symptoms reported by aircrew and passengers exposed to hydraulic fluids, engine oil and engine oil decomposition products on aircraft when these compounds contaminated the breathing air supply.