01/07/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/07/2025 15:04
The FAA is committed to protecting the safety and health of passengers and cabin crews on our nation's airlines. The agency has strict cabin air standards, and studies have shown cabin air is as good as or better than the air found in offices and homes. In rare instances, mechanical issues such as failures of an engine oil seal or recirculation fan bearings can cause fumes to enter the cabin. Airlines are required to report these incidents to the FAA. The FAA investigates the causes and makes sure they're fixed before the aircraft returns to service.
Section 323 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed the FAA to engage the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to conduct a one-year study on the health and safety effects of minimum and maximum aircraft cabin temperatures on passengers and crew.
Section 326 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 required the FAA to commission a cabin bleed-air quality study by the Intermodal Transportation Environment-Airliner Cabin Environment Research (RITE/ACER) Center of Excellence (COE). The Act required the study to include technologies to prevent fume events and warn of bleed air contamination and assess occupant health effects from exposure to bleed air contaminants.
The FAA sponsored research to determine if current commercial technology was available that could detect smoke/odor/fumes from internal sources such as failures of environmental control system recirculation fans, circuits, and electrical cables). The final report is available here.
The FAA follows European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) sponsored research(link is external) on cabin air quality and safety.
The FAA participates in committees that are developing industry standards for addressing the cabin environment, which include:
The FAA created and sponsored the RITE/ACER COE from 2004 through 2015. Research conducted is available for public review on the FAA website. The research shows:
In response to provisions of the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act, the FAA assessed cabin air quality. In December 2015, the FAA published a report called "Aircraft Cabin Bleed Air Contaminants: A Review," which describes the potential health-related risks of human exposure to bleed-air contaminants generated during fume events. The report found that the rate of cabin air quality events is less than 33 events per million aircraft departures.
The FAA continues to work with airplane manufacturers, air carriers, and research institutes to study the cabin air quality of in-service aircraft to ensure an acceptable cabin environment.
The FAA, EASA, and industry experts have sponsored or conducted studies that indicate the air quality of transport airplane cabins is on par with other forms of public transportation and with public buildings and homes.
Relate air quality and other factors(link is external) to comfort and health symptoms reported by passengers and crew on commercial transport aircraft.
Final Report: Preliminary Cabin Air Quality Measurement Campaign (CAQ) EASA.2014.C15 and Preliminary Cabin Air Quality Measurement Campaign-CAQ II, EASA.2014.C15.SU01. (p. 130). Available at the following website: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/research-reports/easarepresea20144(link is external)
Study of aldehydes, CO, and characterization of particles resulting from oil contamination of aircraft bleed air. [Doctoral dissertation, Kansas State University], K-State Research Exchange.
Aircraft cabin air sampling study, part 1 and part 2 of the final report. (Reference No. YE29016V). Institute of Environment and Health. Cranfield University.
The nature of particulates in aircraft bleed air resulting from oil contamination (Paper No. LV-17-C047). [Paper presentation]. ASHRAE Winter Conference, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Experimental determination of the characteristics of lubricating oil contamination in bleed air. (Paper No. LV-17-C046). [Paper presentation]. ASHRAE Winter Conference, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Relate air quality and other factors to comfort and health symptoms reported by passengers and crew on commercial transport aircraft (part 2) (ASHRAE research project 1262 RP). ASHRAE.
Potential of commercial air quality sensors to detect bleed air contamination events. (Report No. RITE-ACER-CoE-2015-1). National Air Transportation Center of Excellence for RITE/ACER Program. Auburn University.
Bleed air oil contamination particulate characterization. [Master's thesis, Kansas State University], K-State Research Exchange.
VIPR3 data collected by Kansas State University, a preliminary review. (Report No. RITE-ACER-CoE-2-15-2). National Air Transportation Center for Excellence for RITE/ACER Program. Kansas State University.