Planes diverted due to strange smoke smell

Firefighters were called to Liverpool John Lennon yesterday when a passenger plane was diverted back to the airport after crew noticed a ‘strange smell’ in the cockpit.

Passengers were evacuated and firefighters checked the cockpit and found no signs of fire.

According to the Liverpool Echo, firefighters were called out to another aircraft later in the day because of similar fears about the smell of smoke, which is believed to be connected to ‘atmospheric conditions’.

There were also incidents at other UK airports, according to traffic management company NATS.

They came as the sky turned a strange orange colour in parts of the UK, which experts are blaming on the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dragging in tropical air and dust from the Sahara, as well as debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain.

The Met Office said: "The same southerly winds that have brought us the current warmth have also drawn dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires occurring over northern Iberia (Spain/Portugal) to our latitudes."

An easyJet flight to Manchester also declared an emergency as it was travelling from Alicante to Manchester yesterday.

EasyJet said in total four of its flights yesterday reported smoke smells in the cockpit, believed to be linked to the atmospheric circumstances. 

Pilots union BALPA renewed its calls for regulators to ensure the development of effective cabin air filters onboard aircraft 

Head of flight safety at BALPA, Dr Rob Hunter, explained: "A vulnerability of the way in which cabin air is supplied in most airliners is that there is no direct filtration of the outside air before it enters the cabin, so if the outside air is contaminated, this contaminated air is drawn into the aircraft.

"This most commonly happens when an aircraft is taxiing on the ground close to the jet exhaust of another aircraft and it is rare for the atmosphere to be contaminated at cruising altitude.

"However, contamination can occur when there are high levels of atmospheric pollution, when volcanic ash and volcanic gasses are in the atmosphere and when dusts from storms or soot from fires on the ground are drawn in to the air. 

"As part of the process by which the air is supplied to the cabin the air is temporarily heated and this can contribute to the burning smell.

"In principle, the air supplied to the cabin should be filtered and BALPA is writing to regulators to ask that the effective filters are developed and are then required to be fitted."

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