Air carrier flight attendants reported a fumes event during pre-flight which dissipated initially and resumed during descent. Flight attendants reported experiencing physiological symptoms to the Captain who requested medical assistance and submitted a fumes report to maintenance at gate arrival.
Synopsis
Air carrier flight attendants reported a fumes event during pre-flight which dissipated initially and resumed during descent. Flight attendants reported experiencing physiological symptoms to the Captain who requested medical assistance and submitted a fumes report to maintenance at gate arrival.
Narrative
Boarded the aircraft and sat because the flight was delayed. FA2 (Flight Attendant 2) came from the back of the aircraft asking if it smelled weird to us. I walked to the back and before I lowered my mask I could already smell a musty dirty sock smell; it was very strong. There was a deadheading pilot onboard and we asked him to come smell it; he acknowledged the smell but wasn't worried about it which put us at ease. Once we were up in the air the smell remained and was strong back in the galley. FA2 called the pilots and they said they could also smell it in the flight deck and were already starting to write a report. The smell dissipated about 20 minutes later; as we started descending the smell came back and was really strong. My head was hurting and I felt dizzy. FA2 indicated similar and even strong reactions; FA3 indicated she had a bad headache and FA1 in the front said she felt dizzy and faint. We communicated our symptoms with the pilots and asked they call for people to meet the flight. After deplaning we connected with a [Flight Attendant Service personnel] and she helped us get connected to a hospital to get tested. We waited about an hour trying to get transportation to the hospital to get checked out; we arrived at the hospital and they said they've had crews there before. They took vitals and blood tested us to make sure we were okay. Our tests came back negative although our symptoms all remained. We then spent two hours after being discharged trying to get a hotel and transportation so we could rest.
Second reporter narrative
I FA2 (Flight Attendant 2) smelled something when I boarded the plane. It smelled like mold or dirty socks. It was very prevalent mainly towards the aft galley and aft half of the airplane. We had to wait an hour and a half for the pilots to arrive. So we held off on boarding but the crew and two deadheading pilots stayed on board. I was sitting by the aft galley for about 20 minutes when I went to ask the deadheading pilots and crew if they smelled anything and that the smell in the back was really irritating me and starting to give me a headache. The pilots went to the back to smell and said yes it did smell but that since it was rainy outside maybe the rain got the air conditioning filter wet and the filter was probably dirty. I believed this because it really did smell like mold/ dirty air conditioner. So we ignored it and it started to get a bit better. We ended up boarding; the pilots arrived; we pushed back and took off. On takeoff we started to notice the same smell again becoming more prevalent. About 20 -30 minutes or so after take off I called the pilots to let them know about the smell and how we had smelled it on the ground as well. I said maybe it's mold or something. And they said; it's not mold; we smell it too and we're already in the process of writing it up. Within the next half hour we all started to feel dizzy; headache; light headedness. So we called the pilots back and said we wanted to get checked out at the hospital in ZZZ as we knew then it was in fact fumes in the cabin. And we were experiencing symptoms. Upon descent the odor became so strong in the aft galley I had to plug my nose and try not to take a deep breath and I began feeling so faint that I grabbed an oxygen bottle to use during landing. Once we landed the smell started to go away again. When we arrived to the gate in ZZZ I guess the paramedics were there but they thought they were meeting a passenger and they left. There was some confusion so I'm not entirely sure what happened there. A flight service manager met us and helped us get set up to getting to a hospital in ZZZ. We arrived there maybe an hour and a half later and within another hour or so got our blood tests to test for carbon monoxidePilots should [not] just dismiss these smells as not a big deal. Get maintenance on board asap/ land plane asap and deplane. Also please put carbon monoxide detectors in the cabin so we can provide a safe environment for passengers and employees.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.