Again, ground tests failed to duplicate the problem. So the aircraft was cleared to fly passengers the following morning, records show. You don't just shut the hood' The union contends aircraft 771 should never have left Orange County or Portland carrying the crew and passengers. You don't just shut the hood and keep going. If you don't find it on initial inspection, you keep looking - especially when you're talking about locking passengers and crew inside the cabin.
Airplanes are complicated beasts.
When anything goes wrong with a complicated system like the air-conditioning system, you may not know what's going on until you pull things apart several times. The results of Reardon's air sampling won't be available until the end of this month, Evans said. But other tests done by Schumacher and Associates for the airline show lubrication oil mist or fumes generally do not pose undue health risks to crew or passengers, Evans said. You may have burning eyes or a burning sensation in your lungs, but from what we've been told by the manufacturers of these products, as well as by industrial hygienists we've retained and medical experts we've talked to, these exposures do not pose any serious health hazards. Union officials question the validity of any studies or reports paid for by the airline.