Mystery gas hits passengers

[Blue Diadem]

Mystery gas hits passengers
Daniel Hoare,Steve Creedy
February 22, 2005
A MYSTERY gas leak threw Melbourne airport into chaos yesterday, putting 47 people in hospital and stranding 20,000 travellers as 78 flights were cancelled.

Paramedics treated 57 Virgin Blue passengers and staff outside the south terminal after they experienced nausea, dizziness, vomiting and shortness of breath from the chemical, which emergency crews were unable to detect.

Clad in elaborate protective gear, Metropolitan Fire Brigade officers used sophisticated chemical detection equipment in a bid to locate and identify the substance.

Despite extensive air testing, the investigators were unable to detect the substance and the terminal was reopened at 6.15pm.

Peter Holmes, acting chief officer of the MFB, said initial air testing at midday had detected a chemical element in the air, but it had rapidly dissipated and did not reappear.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12331734%255E23349,00.html

[Deja Q]

1. Was Rush Limbaugh on the plane? Did he fart?

:shrug:

Okay, in all honesty... is it an accident or deliberate? If the latter, then who and why... And when would it be our turn for the treatment? :scared:

[rzemanfl]

2. Isn't there a phenomenon where if one person barfs, people

around them tend to barf too, even if they were perfectly well before the person next to them hurled? Any doctors out there?

[Blue Diadem]

3. I thought of that too, but

since they were able to detect some type of gas that disipated quickly..it just makes me wonder what it was and where it came from.

Although I had to chuckle when I read footwear..

snip:

We were not able to find what the substance was," he said. "You would normally be able to narrow it down. We had some readings early on in the day, but it started reading clear in the afternoon.

"There is no doubt there was something in there, but it has dissipated."

Mr Holmes said the chemical substance could have been spread by air-conditioning ducts, contaminated baggage or even footwear.

[renegade000]

4. doesn't surprise me

the smell and sight of vomit makes me want to gag.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. BFEE testing bio-weapons on it's own citizens again?

.
.
.

Wouldn't surprise me one little bit . . .

[stillcool]

6. Didn't the Aussies just re-up in Iraq? ......n/t

[MADem]

7. Was chile on the Virgin Blue menu??? n/t

[Blue to the bone]

8. Mass hysteria, most likely..........

....happens often. One person sees another frantically gasping for air and the first thing you know, they're frantically gasping for air.

[soaky]

9. it wasn't mass hysteria

they did detect *something*, and passengers and crew could smell something before the first person collapsed.

it certainly turned into mass pissed-offedness though

[progressivebydesign]

10. There could have been an initial odor. but the hysteria followed...

.. Remember that football game years ago when a cheerleader got sick from stomach virus or something, then suddenly all the cheerleaders and then fans started freaking out and getting sick, because they believed the soda was tainted? There could have been a smell.. then a mass freak out. So.. everyone is probably right here, smell.. then mass freak out.

[soaky]

12. there was NO hysteria!

no mass freak out. *some* people were overcome/affected, but mainly people were just evacuated from the terminal.

I don't know of the football game you mention (I'm in melbourne, it probably never hit the news here), and while I can see why you might assume a similar event, it wasn't.

[donco6]

11. Looking for the wrong thing.

Maybe they should be looking for an ABSENCE of gas - namely oxygen. Perhaps they lost cabin pressure somehow, or the circulators weren't working and CO2 built up in the cabin.

[soaky]

13. it was in the terminal not on a flight eom