BigTime

I've experienced this dirty sock smell so many times in airplanes I can't keep count, on the ground and in flight. Mechanics always claimed it was a problem with the air conditioning packs. Never had any adverse health effects and never heard about anybody else having health problems afterward either.

BigTime

This I believe. I've experienced it many times. This is what our mechanics claimed was the problem. I've never had any negative health effects after a dirty sock smell event and neither have any of my crew or passengers.

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.

Qotsaautopilot

It is oil. It does contain neurotoxins. It comes from a leaky APU or a bad seal on one of the engines. If it’s the engine you will usually experience it on descent with thrust at idle. spirit has acknowledged this as fact. We have been told that we are even looking into different types of oils.

OOfff

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.

Fleet Warp

There is a sock. I know because I've changed them. It is an older design of environmental system like the A319/20.

The smell is not just oil, it is also mold, probably black mold because wet gym socks is what Black mold smells like. I know cause I've seen that too. There is always moldiness on and around the sock area, because it's always damp and it should be changed weekly but it is not required to be changed by regulations, so it doesn't happen.

Qotsaautopilot

I’m not doubting there is mold in there that may smell that way but when the airline acknowledges that the oil has that same smell when they have every motivation to deny it I’m going to believe them. Now if I’m stuck in a metal tube that’s pumping suspect air at me I’m going to do my best to remove it and if not possible divert. Best case it’s mold as you say (still not good), and worse case it’s toxic oil fumes that can damage your brain permanently. They smell the same. I hope I’m not on your flight while you decide to roll that dice.

Fleet Warp

Well I suppose that explains a lot about me cus I've been drenched in 7808, not sure what your jet uses but i can tell you with certainty that it smells very similar to black mold but not identical. Having lived in a dormitory with black mold in the ducting I learned something about it. Oh and yes the sock also catches oil too.

I assumed every one knew what I was getting on about the mold, but it seems some of you need to know this.

Black mold also has side effects that can cause a lot of the immediate problems that would require diversion. But a company would want too hide that.

The most common black mold symptoms and health effects are associated with a respiratory response. Chronic coughing and sneezing, irritation to the eyes, mucus membranes of the nose and throat, rashes, chronic fatigue and persistent headaches can all be symptomatic of black mold exposure or black mold poisoning.

In particularly severe cases of prolonged exposure, black mold health effects can be more dangerous. Often compounded by allergic reaction to the black mold spores, these symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, and bleeding in the lungs and nose.

BoJet

Sounds like an Uno’s Pizza fart to me 💨. It’s the new buy-on-board.

BeatNavy

Most of the fume events aren’t a constant dirty sock smell. It seems to happen most at TOD but is never really a constant smell and comes about at various phases of flight. If it was dirty pack filters, it would be constant as long as air went thru the packs, IE as soon as the APU provides bleed air to the packs at the gate. If it smelled like dirty socks at the gate with the APU bleed on as soon as you get on the plane it should be written up and you should get off the plane until it’s fixed. If the smell comes at some later time, then it’s clearly not mold/dirty filters, as that would have been there earlier. So no, these fumes aren’t from moldy socks/filters.