Union seeks review of low-odour engine oil for aircraft APUs

A union representing transport workers has asked for a review of a new aviation oil marketed as a way to keep aircraft in service longer because it smells less.

The product, Turbo Oil 2330 from US chemicals firm Eastman, is meant for an aircraft's auxiliary power unit, the small rear engine that supplies power on the ground and helps start the main engines. If oil leaks there, heat can vaporise it, and on some aircraft those vapours can reach the cockpit and cabin through the air-conditioning system.

The smell is hard to miss. Passengers and crew affected by such events have reported irritated eyes and throats, headaches and nausea, according to the account.

The International Transport Workers' Federation wants the oil investigated. It worries that if the vapours carry little or no odour, crews may notice contaminated cabin air later, or not at all. Removing the unpleasant symptom, in that view, does not necessarily address what caused it.

Eastman promotes Turbo Oil 2330 to airlines on the grounds that aircraft would need to be taken out of service for checks less often after odour events. The federation disputes that reasoning.

The dispute turns on a question the source leaves open: whether the warning smell can be separated from the contamination itself without losing a signal crews currently rely on. The account cited no findings from any review.