Gas leak scare on SAA plane
2011-05-24 10:46
Cape Town - South African Airways is investigating after passengers on a Cape Town-bound plane started coughing due to a suspected gas leak, which resulted in three people being hospitalised.
The emergency situation occurred on board flight SAA 333 halfway between Johannesburg and Cape Town on Monday, when passengers started coughing for no reason.
It was only once they had reached Cape Town and men with gas masks got onto the plane, that shocked passengers realised how serious the situation was.
No one informed passengers about the situation on the plane, which landed in Cape Town an hour after the coughing started.
Emergency
Fire and rescue services and medical personnel were ready for an emergency landing after the captain sent out an emergency signal during the flight.
The coughing was caused by an unknown gas leak on board the SAA Airbus A340-200. Three of the 231 passengers and crew were believed to have been admitted to hospital. The rest were not affected.
The three people were treated by the airport’s emergency services.
SAA spokesperson Sarah Uys said on Monday night that two crew members and one passenger were admitted to a Cape Town hospital but couldn’t say which hospital or what their condition was.
The flight left at about midday from O R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and the coughing started about an hour later.
The plane landed at 14:07 and emergency personnel were on the runway as soon as it landed.
One of the passengers, Tamsanqa Hewu, 45, from Johannesburg said: “A few people started coughing and it was clear that something in the air had caused it. A pilot came from the cabin and observed the situation but then disappeared again.
“The coughing only lasted for a while, then everything went back to normal.”
Big fright
André Willemse, 40, said no one communicated with passengers about the emergency situation, and they got a big fright when people with gas masks climbed on the plane and searched it after they landed.
He said it was only once they were on the shuttle bus on the way to the airport building that they heard about the leak.
Medical personnel were present and passengers were kept on the shuttle bus and questioned.
"They wanted to know if anyone felt dizzy or nauseous,” said Teresa Chia, 29, a tourist from America.
Theo Layne, spokesperson for Cape Town’s fire and rescue services, said: “We measured the gas levels in the cabin and found nothing. Then we went to the cargo hold and there we found three packages with the words HAZMAT. HAZMAT indicates dangerous material.”
"The packages had not been opened and there were no signs of leaks.”
Layne said it was impossible to immediately indicate what kind of gas it was. “Different gases are used in the air conditioning of a plane.”
SAA says it is investigating the incident.
