Mystery Smells Cause Emergency Plane Landing, Air Tests Inconclusive

Weird smells forced a Lufthansa aircraft to emergency land at the London Airport this past October, says a report published this week.

The strange smells were initially observed by the captain of the plane who began to complain about dizziness and eye irritation, in the smells wake. The reported funk then traveled to the cabin causing the passengers to feel sick from throat irritation.

Luckily the plane landed without complication nearly 10 minutes after the initial smell was detected, and aside from some mild nausea not one of the 139 passengers aboard were left with any long term issues.

The cause of the strange smells were not determined and the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) went on to tell The Telegraph,

The investigation was inconclusive in that a source of the apparent contamination of the cabin and flight deck air was not found, despite the detailed analysis of residues and the medical examinations of the affected members of the crew. This event thus joins a growing number of cases in which there has been a similar lack of conclusive evidence as to the cause of aircraft cabin air quality issues.

Small enclosed spaces, mystery smells and accompanying nausea? Sounds like the Planet Weird van to me!

Mystery smells have been popping up all over the world quite regularly this year, and so far nearly every case has resulted in similar symptoms, evacuation of a well traveled public space, and an unsolved conclusion. There’s plenty of people who believe the strange cases to actually be some kind of public weapons testing, so if you should happen to find yourself in a particularly smelly Wal-Mart, be sure to keep an eye out for men in dark suits. They should stick out like a sore thumb.

What do you make of the phenomena of mystery smells? Government conspiracy or just some bad cheese in an overhead compartment? Share your theories with us on Facebook, on twitter @WhoForted, or in the comments below!

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