Overview

• Video shows a Delta flight returning to Atlanta after thick white smoke poured from overhead vents, with a flight attendant urging passengers to breathe through clothing as pilots declared an emergency.
• Airlines have filed thousands of fume-event reports since 2010, and records reviewed by the Wall Street Journal show the rate nearing 108 incidents per million departures despite the FAA calling such events rare.
• Incidents have surged on Airbus A320-family aircraft, with JetBlue and Spirit reporting a 660% increase since 2016, while Delta says APU replacements on its A320 fleet are more than 80% complete.
• Doctors report treating scores of pilots and flight attendants for neurological injuries resembling chemical concussions, including cases such as JetBlue’s Florence Chesson and pilot Andrew Myers, whose case secured court recognition of long-term harm.
• Airbus and Boeing acknowledge that oil and hydraulic fluids can vaporize into unfiltered bleed air, a 2017 Boeing email warned of potentially fatal crew illnesses, a 2018 FAA inspector flagged organophosphates in oils, and Airbus’s Project Fresh redesign applies to new jets starting in 2026.