Lord Tyler initiated a debate in the UK's House of Lords on 27 October 2009, and accused the government of doing nothing about the aircraft contaminated problem for the past ten years. Following the debate Lord Tyler issued this media release:

From: DAVIES, Alexander
Sent: 27 October 2009 18:34
Subject: MINISTER'S "STAGGERING" COMPLACENCY ON TOXIC PLANES

MEDIA RELEASE FROM LORD TYLER
Liberal Democrat Peer
House of Lords, London, SW1A 0AA

Contact:        Alex Davies, 07971 883996
Date:           27th October 2009

MINISTER'S "STAGGERING" COMPLACENCY ON TOXIC PLANES

A Government Transport Minister today (Tuesday) wrote off dangerous 'fume events' in aircraft, which are said to affected the health of thousands of pilots, cabin crew and passengers, as merely "unpleasant".

The Minister spoke in a mini-debate in the House of Lords, following an admission by British Aerospace that filters were needed to reduce the effect of engine oil leaking into cabin air on their planes.  Liberal Democrat Peer and Cabin Air Quality Campaigner, Lord Tyler, led the debate saying, "Will the Minister now accept that the decision by BAe would seem to indicate that it now takes this problem a great deal more seriously than it has in the past because it is investing money in these systems?"

Responding Lord Faulkner of Worcester - speaking for the Government - said, "We accept that some people experience unpleasant smells during the course of a flight and that there are occasional fume events that create those unpleasantnesses."  The evidence of ill-health effects was inconclusive, he claimed.  "We need to establish whether there is contamination from the engine oil into the cabin".

Commenting after the exchange, Lord Tyler, said:

"I have seen minister after minister go through the Department for Transport and none has yet grappled with the seriousness of this issue.

"It's staggeringly complacent to fob parliamentarians and campaigners off with the idea that what is at stake is people experiencing simple 'unpleasantness'.

"If any of his family or friends had had their long-term health diminished by the manifest leakage of engine oil into cabin air, he would not use such cavalier language.  In addition, there have been serious incidents in-flight, which could have proved disastrous.

"BAe's own change of tack is a clear admission that there is a problem here, just as the Breakspear Clinic research confirms there is.  If the industry is beginning to lift its head out of the sand, it must be totally unnecessary for the Government to adopt an ostrich-stance at this stage.

"Worse still, government research which is presently underway doesn't even command the confidence of the campaigners involved, because the Department has consistently relied on the flawed conclusions of the Committee on Toxicity, ignoring bodies of other research and the manifest ill-health of many who have worked in commercial aircraft.

"I will be pressing the Minister to meet with a delegation and review this situation once more."

ENDS




Alexander Davies
Parliamentary Assistant to Lord Tyler
House of Lords
London, SW1A 0PW

Tel:     020 7219 4987/6355
Fax:    020 7219 1360
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Web: http://www.paultyler.libdems.org