Worker exposed to carbon dioxide leak at LAX has died, family says
A worker at Los Angeles International Airport exposed to a carbon monoxide leak that killed four passengers and injured five others died Sunday evening, family members said.
The death of a flight attendant, who was working the day the leak was reported, happened around 3:30 p.m. on a flight from San Diego to Los Angeles, the Transportation Board’s Flight Operations Bureau said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the agency said the aircraft’s carbon monoxide levels remained undetectable and they believed the workers who discovered the leak did not inhale any air.
The plane’s captain decided to land in San Diego instead of Los Angeles, saying he could not reach a radio that could have informed other passengers of the emergency, the agency said.
“The captain was on board the aircraft when the carbon monoxide alarm sounded,” the statement read. “He decided to land the aircraft in San Diego instead of returning to [Los Angeles] because the aircraft’s carbon monoxide alarm did not sound.”
The FAA’s Flight Service Station at LAX confirmed Sunday night that the CO levels were “stable” and said the crew “undertook an extensive investigation” to determine whether the worker who was the first to sound the alarm was exposed to the gas.
“The aircraft’s Carbon Monoxide alarm did not sound until after his departure for the day,” the agency said.
The cause of the leak is still under investigation, although the TBO said it was caused by what was probably a broken hose.
“The crew member that was exposed to the toxic gas had recently used the flight simulator to prepare for his work day,” the agency said. “The crew member was not using the aircraft at the time he was exposed to the toxic gas. At that time, the crew member took off his outer garments in preparation for his workday. After the crew member left the flight simulator, the temperature rose above the norm.”
The agency said the airline