Originally Posted by
GrumpyCaptain
From what I understand, these “socks” that are wet and cause wet sock smell don’t exist. It’s urban legend.
You are actually smelling oil from the engine or apu. It’s doing damage to your brain. Sometimes enough to change your personality. Some even think there is a link to the high pilot suicide rate (which we never talk about) like football players with brain injuries.
We don’t talk about pilot suicides because, when controlled for age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status, there’s not a statistically significant difference that can be blamed on the aviation career.