BA pilots left gasping by stench of ‘sweaty socks’

There have been more than 100 “fume incidents” on flights in five years
There have been more than 100 “fume incidents” on flights in five years
NICOLAS ECONOMOU/GETTY IMAGES

A British Airways pilot was incapacitated by an odour described as like “sweaty socks” as his plane prepared to land at Heathrow, prompting fresh concerns over fumes on passenger jets.

A report published yesterday said that the Airbus A320 had to perform an emergency landing when the fumes suddenly overcame the cockpit at 4,000ft. The two pilots on the flight from Zurich on September 23 last year had to put on oxygen masks.

The co-pilot was worst affected, complaining of sore eyes and throat and feelings of nausea before vomiting out of the cockpit window when the plane eventually landed, the report said. The co-pilot and commander of the flight, which was carrying 145 passengers and crew, were treated in hospital before being released the