"Mystery remains on Australian airport chaos"

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Mystery remains on airport chaos
By Milanda Roit
Australia - The Melbourne Herald Sun


MYSTERY still surrounds what caused more than 50 people to be taken to
hospital and the evacuation of thousands more from Melbourne airport on
Monday.

Theories of food poisoning, gas leaks, chemical spills, paint fumes, a hoax
and even mass hysteria have been suggested as explanations. 

But five days after the incident, Metropolitan Fire Brigade officers, police
and paramedics remain stumped. 

Monday's event caused several days of chaos at the Virgin Blue terminal,
forcing flights to be cancelled and leaving thousands of passengers
stranded. 

Broadmeadows Det Sen-Sgt Alex Krstic, heading the police investigation, said
officers were approaching the incident with an open mind. 

"All options will be examined and we will be able to come up with a
conclusion in due course," he said. 

Sen-Sgt Krstic said it would be weeks before the investigation ended. 

MFB deputy chief fire officer Keith Adamson said more than 100 chemicals
could have triggered the symptoms in those affected. 

But none of them were found by specialised MFB officers at the scene. 

Melbourne airport spokesman Geoffrey Conaghan said he did not know what had
caused the initial four staff, who worked at a newsagency and other shops,
to get sick. 

"We are trying to find out what caused the initial illness, but air testing
by three different agencies during the day found nothing," he said. 

Department of Human Services spokesman Bram Alexander said food poisoning
had not been ruled out, but was unlikely. "We looked at the possibility of
food poisoning initially but it didn't fit because of the nature of the
symptoms," he said. 

He said the DHS was still waiting on the samples taken at the scene. 

Ambulance spokesman Paul Holman said he also did not know what had caused
the chaos but ruled out mass hysteria. 

"I have had nearly 30 years of experience in the ambulance service and I can
tell the difference between mass hysteria and physiological symptoms," he
said. 

He said that at any chemical spill there were always people who panicked,
but in this incident the first patients were definitely sick. 

Virgin Blue spokeswoman Amanda Bolger said the airline was leaving the
investigation to emergency services. 

As well as police investigating the cause of the mystery, the Emergency
Services Commissioner was also looking into the response to the incident.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************