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Airbus A220 Chief Engineer Explains How Cabin Air is Cleaner Than You Think
When at cruising altitudes, the cabin air is a mix of fresh air drawn from the outside of the aircraft and passed through High-Efficiency-Particulate Arrestors (HEPA) filters (www.aviationtoday.com) More...
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Tell the Chief that planes older than about 5 years don't have those filters. Air is brought in from the engine compressor and is very hot and sterile. It then goes into the air cycle machines and mixed with cabin air to control the temperature. Cabin air will contain all the exhaled carbon dioxide, viruses, microbes, fungi and other human waste. It is vented out the rear bulkhead but the cabin is never 100% pure.
Oh, give me a break. Does this Airbus man really expect us to believe this garbage.
Straight talk : the cabin air comes from bleed air on the engines. The more bleed air that is taken for the cabin, the more horsepower that is lost so, by design, on every rotation of air just 1/3rd is replaced.
He goes through this claptrap of vents at the top and vents in the floor and toilets etc, which is true, but the cabin air is only partially replaced on every rotation and viruses and bacteria get circulated throughout the cabin.
The filters are NOT capable of removing a virus. That is a literal impossibility. Besides, they are changed every thirty days, not after every flight, if a virus was caught in a filter it would still be capable of infection for a time.
The airline joke that if someone in first class sneezes that everyone in economy catches a cold is actually true.
A imagine that this is designed to lull a typical passenger into believing that travel on a Scarebus is safe from Covad19, versus Boeing, perhaps? But I really object to the plain untruth of this article. It is just false. Any aircraft engineer knows this.
Straight talk : the cabin air comes from bleed air on the engines. The more bleed air that is taken for the cabin, the more horsepower that is lost so, by design, on every rotation of air just 1/3rd is replaced.
He goes through this claptrap of vents at the top and vents in the floor and toilets etc, which is true, but the cabin air is only partially replaced on every rotation and viruses and bacteria get circulated throughout the cabin.
The filters are NOT capable of removing a virus. That is a literal impossibility. Besides, they are changed every thirty days, not after every flight, if a virus was caught in a filter it would still be capable of infection for a time.
The airline joke that if someone in first class sneezes that everyone in economy catches a cold is actually true.
A imagine that this is designed to lull a typical passenger into believing that travel on a Scarebus is safe from Covad19, versus Boeing, perhaps? But I really object to the plain untruth of this article. It is just false. Any aircraft engineer knows this.
Has the CDC or anyone posted incidence of positive COVID-19 cases or outbreaks among flight crews, passengers or particular flights? If you know, please share the source. Many thanks!
The only aviation-related thing I've seen is the TSA's list of infected screeners. This research would be difficult, though, because of the amount of contact with people before, during, and after a flight, especially for flight crews. Pilots and FA's spend their overnights in hotel rooms and restaurants, as well as living in big cities, where one is more likely to catch the virus. Unfortunately, I'm not sure there is any way to tell if you got it on a plane or elsewhere in your interactions while traveling
The challenge for me is what to believe from sources that benefit from getting us to believe something, in this case HEPA is effective against Covid-19. I know I often get sick from flying which leads me doubt that most air carriers have any ability to protect me from Covid-19. Also a Chief Engineer knows how to use numbers. Citing research or studies that in fact their places are effective would go a long way to helping my confidence. This article doesn't do that and that leaves me wondering about its true intention. I am not in a hurry to be an early adopter of this virus.
Q/ Why not build an intense UV source into the recirculation system?
