Word: aircrafting
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...breath in cabins, disease-causing microbes and the famously cramped seating that once seemed something to merely peeve about, not die from. Exactly what risks we face when flying is the subject of an increasingly acrimonious debate among airlines, flight attendants' unions, consumer groups and passengers. "Aircraft have been called incubators of disease," says Farrol Kahn, director of Britain's Aviation Health Institute. "The airlines have a lot to answer...
...health fears associated with the skies, it is DVT that has captured most public attention. Erroneously referred to as "economy-class syndrome," DVT can strike cramped passengers in any section of an aircraft. In some victims, the effect of the blood clots might be a sharp stabbing pain and swelling in the lower leg. In others, it might be much more serious: part of the clot may detach itself and travel through the bloodstream to the lungs, where it can cause a pulmonary embolism, an obstruction that can prove fatal. The Slater & Gordon case goes to the heart...
...airlines' defense rests on the lack of conclusive evidence linking flying to dying, or even getting sick. "There is no scientifically valid evidence that the cabin environment in commercial aircraft is unhealthy," declares Dr. Russell Rayman, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association. As for risk, the airlines maintain there is no evidence so far that suggests a busy aircraft cabin might be more dangerous than sitting still anywhere, whether on a crowded train, bus, car or even at home. Many carriers feel they have been unfairly singled out as the scapegoats of a health scare driven by the media...
...condition itself can be almost impossible to track. Minor cases may produce no symptoms, while major complications like pulmonary embolisms can show up weeks after the initial clotting. Immobility may play a role, but to some experts the idea of a special link between aircraft and thrombosis simply isn't plausible: last year in Britain, a House of Lords report focusing on air travel and health issues tied DVT to sitting in a variety of cramped conditions, including cars and trains as well as airplanes. This March, a conference by the World Health Organization of scientists and industry representatives...
...scientists who want answers. So do the carriers: 16 of them attended the WHO meeting. In February the International Air Transport Association advised all airlines to tell travelers of the risk of DVT when they make reservations. Airbus reports that buyers of its new 550-seat A-380 aircraft have expressed an interest in putting treadmills on board. And some airlines are already providing exercise information to passengers. JAL is showing a new nine-minute in-flight exercise video that refers to DVT. Emirates gives passengers the "Airogym," a sort of half inflated water wing, which they squash with...