Friday, July 31, 2009

Please Review Reader's Comments at Bottom


Sharp Sticks

UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs
By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
07/17/09 12:05 AM EDT

For the past two and a half years, Dr. Michael A. Berry has been the manager of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Medical Specialties Division, Office of Aeronautical Medicine. According to an FAA spokesperson, Dr. Berry is in charge of medically certifying the fitness of all pilots and air traffic controllers in the United States. But some current and former airline employees say that Dr. Berry himself is not fit for the job.

A former Continental Airlines pilot who was medically grounded after complaining about safety problems in the cockpit told The Examiner that “the dreaded Dr. Berry,” as he is known among some pilots, falsified his medical records by telling the FAA he had “a neurological condition (seizure)” that ended his 17-year flying career.

“Dr. Berry found me ‘unfit for duty’ with no corroborating medical evidence, based upon a phone call to the pilot about whom I had complained... and then had the audacity to ask me for money to pay him to take care of it. He even wrote this in his notes...if I decided to work with him, he’d have to charge me for his time.”

The seizure diagnosis was refuted by the other pilot in a sworn affadavit dated Sept. 11, 2008: “I never told Dr. Berry that [the] First Officer...was unconscious or even had a disturbance of consciousness.”

In a written complaint to the FBI, the grounded pilot outlined what he called “The Berry System”:

* An airline pilot falls into disfavor with his employer, often for voicing safety concerns.
* The airline tells the pilot he will be fired if he doesn’t go see Dr. Berry.
* Dr. Berry reassures the pilot, saying he can’t do anything to get the pilot grounded.
* Dr. Berry informs the pilot that the exam results are all “perfectly normal” and asks why he’s there.
* The pilot complains about somebody and/or something at the airline.
* Dr. Berry falsifies a story based partly upon statements made about the pilot by fellow crewmembers.
* Ignoring any clinical evidence and opinions of other medical specialists, Dr. Berry finds the pilot “unfit for duty” and begins lobbying the FAA (paid for on an hourly basis by the airline) to begin the process of revoking the pilot’s medical certificate.
* Dr. Berry fraudulently alters the pilot’s past medical history.
* Dr. Berry refuses to send a copy of the fraudulent report to the pilot
* Dr. Berry calls the pilot and makes ambiguous statements about his report, then attempts to extort money from the pilot to “take care of it.”
* If the pilot rejects his “offer,” Dr. Berry sends his fraudulent reports to the FAA, deliberately excluding all data that is in the pilot’s favor (in violation of 18 U.S. Code Sec. 1001:3571).
* A friend of Dr. Berry’s at the FAA (Dr. Warren Silberman, DO) revokes the pilot’s FAA medical certificate via letter and immediately faxes a copy of the revocation letter to Dr. Berry.
* When the airline gets hit with a lawsuit, Dr. Berry sends them a copy of the FAA’s letter which, in reality, is nothing more than a product of his fraudulent scheme.
* The airline uses the FAA’s letter to effect the outcome of the lawsuit (and various other legal proceedings/investigations) in its favor.
* If the pilot complains to the State Board of Medical Examiners, Dr. Berry uses the FAA’s letter as “evidence” that he has done nothing wrong.
* The pilot becomes both unemployed and unemployable – without any hope of legal recourse.”


The Examiner has also obtained a copy of a letter from an anonymous employee at Continental Airlines that was sent to U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel III on July 7, confirming the former Continental pilot’s account, and also alleging that Dr. Berry paid kickbacks to a former Continental executive:

“I can confirm recent reports from the Washington Examiner (and a few years earlier, USA Today) where stories were written about Continental’s harassment of pilots who complain about safety and other issues.

“Continental is a great company, but has a certain rogue element left over from the days of [former Continental CEO] Frank Lorenzo. Deb Reynolds, our Employee Assistance Program manager, had an arrangement with an unscrupulous doctor named Mike Berry, and working together they would rid the airline of unwanted pilots. Deb actually received a commission from Berry, and usually screened pilots for financial status and sexual orientation before engaging in this program.

“Berry would harass the complaining pilots by sticking them with needles to draw blood and poking his finger up their anuses, with the message being clear: we can do whatever we want with you.

“If the pilot complained further, Berry would make up an ambiguous story and try to get the pilot to pay him not to send it to the FAA. If the pilot wouldn’t pay him, he’d send it to his friend at the FAA, who would revoke the pilot’s medical certificate.

“Berry made a lot of money doing this, and was financially protected by us using the same arrangement he had at other airlines. Berry became very conceited, and left a substantial paperwork trail. You need to investigate this.”

Former Delta pilot Wayne “Captain WOW” Witter was also grounded by Dr. Berry for alleged health and psychiatric problems in 1993. Witter, a Naval Academy graduate (class of ’61) who won two Distinguished Flying Crosses in Vietnam, says despite his outstanding military career and 36,000 hours of flight time, Delta targeted him for dismissal in the 90’s after he and other employees began exposing pension fraud that led to the airline being forced to pay $640 million in federal penalties.

Witter says an FAA employee in Oklahoma told him that Dr. Berry had gone out there two or three at company expense in an effort to get the FAA to pull Witter’s medical certificate. Witter says other pilots personally told him that Dr. Berry extorted them, asking “How much is it worth to you?” to keep information that could ground them out of their files.

Capt. Witter appealed his medical grounding to the National Transportation Safety Board, which ordered him reinstated at Delta, although he was not allowed to fly again.

“Berry is one of the most dishonest men I’ve ever met, who has ruined more lives, all for power and money,” the now retired Witter told me.. After Dr. Berry’s unethical tactics were exposed during his appeal, Witter added, Delta stopped using him as its medical specialist.

Now he’s in charge of every FAA specialist in the country.


Reader Comments
All comments on this page are subject to our Terms of Use and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Examiner or its staff. Comment box is limited to 200 words.

John P. Gilmer

Jul 27, 2009

I too fell into the Deb Reynolds-Dr. Mike Berry trap while a pilot at Continental Airlines. They made my life so miserable that I took early retirement at age 55. I would be happy to contribute my information to any investigation of these two.

Don't want to give name

Jul 29, 2009

I am not aware of any payoffs, but I know that the CAL EAP does influence doctors to arrive a clinical decisions that favors the EAP's plan of action for certain pilots. In short, CAL EAP forces a pilot into limbo, and that pilot will remain there, even if the pilot is healthy, until the CAL EAP feels that he, or she, is ready to return to work.
There are many pilots out there who have been wronged.

Dan Hanley

Jul 31, 2009

As a former United Airlines B-777 Captain who alleges that he was wrongfully terminated via the EAP route, although Dr. Berry was not involved in this process, I have in my possession substantial evidence of alleged illegal collusion that destroyed a 35 year career in aviation. The Department of Transportation Inspector General's office is supposedly investigating this matter. If anyone desires to contact me, please refer to http://www.airline-whistleblowers.org/Contact_Us.html, as I serve as public spokesperson for this association.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

An Open Letter to ALPA President Captain John Prater

WHISTLEBLOWING AIRLINE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

“Patriotism and Freedom of Speech in Action”


Captain John Prater - President
Air Line Pilots Association International
1625 Massachusetts, Avenue N.W.
Washington DC 20036


Captain Dan Adamus - Canada Board President
Air Line Pilots Association
155 Queen Street, Suite 1301
Ottawa Ontario K1P 6L1

SUBJ: ISSUES OF PUBLIC AIR TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

Dear Captain Prater and Captain Adamus,

I write to you today on behalf of the grassroots members of the Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association concerning issues of public air transportation safety. As you may or may not know, our association is comprised of active and retired airline employees from all airlines on the North American continent and abroad, whose purpose is to augment ALPA efforts, as well as the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, in identifying weaknesses or areas of concern in the commercial air transportation industry that potentially could cause harm our to ‘special interests’, the traveling public and the many airline employees within the industry.

We have recently joined political hands with members of the FAA Whistleblowers Alliance and the Government Accountability Project office in DC to support the goals of the FAA in their stated mission of providing ‘the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world’, as well as embracement of the theme of the first sentence of the ALPA Code of Ethics:

“An Air Line Pilot will keep uppermost in his mind that the safety, comfort, and well-being of the passengers who entrust their lives to him are his first and greatest responsibility.”

Commercial airline safety is, and always has been, based on a bond of trust between management and employees, pilots and mechanics, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, air carrier inspectors, and many others who comprise the aviation safety team, but more importantly, the governmental oversight agencies whose function is to ensure compliance with federal aviation regulations. Our airline passengers rely on the integrity of this trust without compromise each day. Based on many recent news reports, it has become apparent that this bond has been eroded significantly and must be restored. It is for this reason that I correspond with your good offices today.

Based on recent feedback received from the ‘Contact Us’ page (http://www.airline-whistleblowers.org/Contact_Us.html ) of our website and from other sources, we encourage the ALPA leadership, if they have not already done so, to publicly endorse in writing the following measures for air safety enhancement:

Management/Employee Relationships

Since 9/11, it has been blatantly obvious that management has been running rough-shod over all employee groups in their obsession to consolidate the industry without regard to morale or safety considerations. While recognizing that unions must comply with current labor laws, the line of demarcation must be identified by Congress as to where concern for bottom-line profits overrides passenger safety, particularly when it comes to reporting safety issues without impediment.

While there is some talk about reregulation of the industry, must we wait until the next air disaster before Congress moves to intercede? The bond of trust has long ago been broken between management and airline employees at all airlines and passengers realize this has happened.

Questionable Licensing and Oversight of Aircraft Mechanics

As has been reported by WFAA Dallas reporter Byron Harris in two news accounts, questions have arisen regarding the alleged illegal licensing of FAA mechanics in this country. Additionally, on June 17, 2009, at a subcommittee hearing held by Senator Dorgan concerning the Colgan Air disaster, Senator Claire McCaskill expressed concerns regarding the outsourcing of maintenance work on aircraft to workers in foreign countries with little or no U.S. governmental oversight.

Before pushback from the gate, airline captains rely on the bond of trust they have when receiving a clean aircraft log book from the mechanic. In light of these reports and reported concerns, given that the Captain’s license and passenger safety are at risk, it is hoped that the ALPA leadership will publicly petition relevant congressional leaders in writing to expeditiously respond with appropriate legislation to address these safety issues.

FAA Employee Whistleblower Suppression

While pilots and mechanics are federally licensed, airline employees are not federal employees, but are bound by the federal aviation regulations that govern the proper conduct of their assigned duties. Pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics routinely interface with air carrier inspectors and, in the case of pilots, with air traffic controllers.

Recent news reports, as well as reports received from members of the FAA Whistleblowers Alliance, allege the intimidation, suppression, demotion and, in some cases, the firing of Federal Aviation Administration employees who have attempted to speak out as whistleblowers on issues of public air safety. On a daily basis, pilots rely on the honesty and integrity of air traffic controller to guide them safely to their destination. Additionally, all employees rely on the same with regard to unimpeded government oversight of operations to ensure regulatory compliance. Any break in the chain of trust denigrates air safety. Employees and passengers recognize the breakage.

The House of Representatives recently passed HR 1507, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009, while the Senate legislation, S.372, is still in committee for work-up. The House version of this bill contains much stronger language that ensures appropriate whistleblower protection for all federal employees, which includes FAA employees, who garner the courage to speak out on wrongdoing within their work place. It is respectfully requested that the ALPA leadership publicly endorse in writing the stronger language contained in HR 1507 vice that of S.372.

Aircraft Cabin Air Toxicity

It has recently been reported on CNN.COM, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in London, and other news sources, the growing public concern over the quality of cabin air in commercial and military aircraft as a result of outdated modes of jet aircraft air conditioning systems without monitors in place to measure the quality of air. See: http://www.aopis.org/PressArticles.html and http://www.aerotoxic.org/index.php/multimedia-archive.

Recognizing the potentially harmful effect of air toxicity on passengers and aircrew members and the possible physical impairment of the cockpit crew, based on concerns expressed to us through our website by both U.S. and foreign crews, it is respectfully requested that you peruse the attached proposed letter authored by William Harrison , President of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRE).

Since these issues impact public safety, it is hoped that your good offices will publicly endorse Mr. Harrison’s request for the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency to “establish a joint independent committee (perhaps with other regulatory authorities) this year to investigate the technical implications and flight safety benefits of addressing bleed air contamination, and to determine the requirements for bleed air contaminant detection systems and solutions to prevent bleed air contamination.”

FAA Employment of Former Airline Pilots

It has come to the attention of our association that there have been instances where former very highly qualified airline captains, some with military experiences in Viet Nam and the Gulf War, have been denied employment by the Federal Aviation Administration, while other less-qualified individuals with very limited experience in aviation matters were hired in their stead.

In light of the sacrifices these returning veterans have made for their country, never mind the horrific loss of pension benefits as a result of post-9/11 bankruptcy rulings, it is strongly urged that the ALPA leadership step up to the plate in petitioning the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide for preferential hiring of these higher-qualified patriotic pilots who have given so much in defense of our nation, while receiving so little in return. Given the recent DOT acknowledgement that the FAA ‘has problems’, it would only seem reasonable in the interest of public safety to ensure that the highest qualified candidates for each job be employed, vice reports of alleged hiring for political reasons within the Federal Aviation Administration.

Passenger Rights

The latest consumer travel reports indicate that passenger satisfaction with air travel is the lowest since 2001. Airline managements’ continued obsession with on-time departures from the gate to hold DOT statistics down oft times cause the necessity for the aircraft to return to the gate for maintenance problems that might have been avoided had the mechanic not been unduly pressured to release the aircraft for flight on time.

Additionally, many passenger service agents have reported to us that this same pressure to close the aircraft door on time, while leaving many passengers stranded at the gate as the aircraft pushes back from the gate with open seats, has caused much passenger anger and distress.

Passenger rights groups have reported that the much-degraded service and poor morale of some aircrew members as a result of the financial distress and abhorrent scheduling practices 9/11 have caused them to consider alternative means of transportation to their destinations in lieu of commercial air. With fuel prices creeping higher in concert with horrific financial losses being reported in the industry, one must question the illogical judgment and reasoning of airline managers’ with regard to the above.

Finally, there have been numerous news accounts of passengers held hostage away from the gate for extended periods of time without their physiological needs being met. In light of the aforementioned, it is strongly urged that ALPA leadership endorse publicly in writing S.213 the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

Union Leadership - Airline Employee Bond of Trust

When United Airlines Captain Dave Behnke met secretly in a Chicago hotel room in1931 to give birth to the Air Line Pilots Association, it was precipitated by the ‘pilot pushing’ that was occurring at the time with early air mail pilots, which resulted in the death of some. The presidency of George W. Bush was the worst blow to commercial aviation unionism in the recall of aviation history. With labor unions rendered powerless at the mercy of bankruptcy judges, and as contract were shredded, airline management danced happily to the bank to deposit their obscene bonuses in the bank, Concurrently, increasing demands for productivity improvements of the already overworked employee groups were made, while ignoring previously effective safety reporting systems, which further denigrated airline safety.

Our association applauds ALPA for its current ‘Call to Action’ regarding the implementation of an effective ASAP/FOQA program within the industry, as well as recent strides made concerning crew fatigue issues. However, attendance at union meetings is dismal at best. Some pilots are discarding their ALPA pins in disgust with the current work rules and pay schedules in place industry wide. In ignoring the past history of ALPA, these pilots have not yet come to recognize that THEY are ALPA.

The bond of trust between ALPA leadership at the local and national level and line pilots must be restored and ALPA strengthened to ensure the optimal level of safety of passengers and aircrew alike. Effective pilot leadership starts at the top and in the left seat, but also amongst the entire ranks of the 54,000 ALPA pilots on the North American continent. Words are cheap and action speaks louder than words. The traveling public and the entire commercial aviation workforce are awaiting effective legal and political action and leadership at the national level.

Recognizing that unions must deal with the political constraints and pressures exerted inside the beltway in DC, grassroots efforts are not so impeded, as they exercise their first amendment freedom of speech rights in consonance with the U.S. Constitution. Our ‘special interests’ are the millions who travel by commercial air and the professional workforce of the airline industry that serve them each day.

The bond of trust must be restored on all fronts.


Fraternally,

Dan Hanley
Public Spokesperson – Whistleblowing Airline Employees Association


Encl: Proposed letter to FAA/EASA from ASHRAE on behalf of SSPC161P



Cc: President Barack Obama
Calvin Scovel – Inspector General, Department of Transportation
Raymond LaHood – Secretary of Transportation
Randolph Babbitt – Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration
Mark Rosenker – Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board
William E. Reukauf – Acting Special Counsel, Office of Special Council
Neil McPhee – Chairman, Merit System Protection Board
Hilda Solis – Secretary, Department of Labor
Senator John Rockefeller – Chairman, Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Senator Daniel Akaka – Chairman, Government/Veterans Affairs Committees
Senator Byron Dorgan – Chairman, Subcommittee on Transportation
Senator Claire McCaskill – Member, Subcommittee on Transportation
Congressman Oberstar – Chairman, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Congressman Jerry Costello – Chairman, House Aviation Subcommittee
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee – Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Transportation
Congressman Eldolphus Towns – Chairman, Oversight and Government Reform
Congressman Bob Filner – Chairman, Veterans Affairs Committe
Tom Devine – Legal Director, Government Accountability Project
Gabe Bruno – Representative, FAA Whistleblowers Alliance
Captain Lloyd Hill – President, Allied Pilots Association
Captain Mike Cleary – President, US Airline Pilots Association
Patricia Friend – International President, Association of Flight Attendants
Laura Glading – President, Association of Professional Flight Attendants
William Harrison – President, ASHRE
John Hoyte – Chairman, www.aerotoxic.org
Kate Hanni – Executive Director, FlyersRights.org
Brandon Macsata – Executive Director, Association for Airline PassengerRights




Dave Behnke – Circa 1930

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Special Report: The Impact of Gulf War Exposures/Illnesses/Deaths at Charleston AFB for AIRCREW MEMBERS






Special Report: The Impact of Gulf War Exposures/Illnesses/Deaths at Charleston AFB for AIRCREW MEMBERS
Posted on July 20, 2009 by DSNurse
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by Denise Nichols, Staff Writer

A disturbing and shocking listing of names hit my desk from a connection with the Charleston 141 unit of C-141 crewmembers that flew during Desert Storm. This was a unit of 160 aircrew members, AF Reserve, these units were some of the healthiest in the force at that time that had annual flight physicals and pilots that also flew with major airline companies.

This list I received of names confirms at least 23 deaths since Operation Desert Storm(15 cancers, 1 stroke, 1 Blood disorder unspecified, 2 suicides, I house fire, 1 questionable death, 2 unknown causes) and at least 22 more suffering 20 with cancers and 2 with renal disease. I am astonished that the DOD and/or CDC or anyone has not mobilized a full team of epidemiologists to do a full investigation. I am equally astonished that US Representatives and US Senators that have been notified have done nothing.

I believe that the CDC should be contacted immediately to find out all of the facts without delay. I also believe that this warrants full House and Senate VA Committee Joint Hearings and Senate and House Transportation Committee hearings. These were gulf war veteran pilots they flew on mandays in support of Operation Desert Storm and they have struggled and their families that lost their loved ones have not been compensated by the VA.

My concern has been there all along for our flight crews since I am a flight nurse and knew many of our pilots throughout the system in the reserves. I was also concerned because of the symptoms ie neuro cognitive disorders ie memory, visual changes due to exposures and having monitored this for years 19 now! I have watched every story of airline mishaps civilian and military through the 19 years and my questions and concerns have not been addressed! I even spent time taking information to Senate and House Transportation Committees to have them exam the problems and hold hearings, they never did!

Also I noted the crashes of military airplanes that crashed carrying Presidential support equipment years back I believe if memory serves me in Wyoming during the Clinton time period? I also noted a USMC helicopter "Squadron One" taxi incident at Andrews AFB running a plane or helicopter into something while taxing is somewhat unusual especially with highly qualified pilots, I took news reports of that incident to the staffer for Former US Representative "B1" Bob Dornan, the military would not confirm or deny that the pilot was a gulf war veteran. I have brought this up at the CDC conference on Gulf War illness in 1999. Much less a couple of airplane crashes ie civilian commercial airlines in the 1990's and air rescue helicopter crashes.

So many connecting points ignored that impacts not just military but civilians too!

So much that could be connected if there was true investigative journalism still existing in our news today but I guess they don't want to dig and think.

In honor of the C-141 Crew members of Charleston Air Force Base and their devotion to their duty I now publish the list as known at the current time of Deaths. Data on illnesses by name will not be published but statistics on this units illnesses as known is listed at the end. Unfortunately I do not have dates of deaths but thankful to one of the officers of this unit that has stayed atuned to the health of his troops and fellow pilots this is what we have. It is a shame that more units deployed during Desert Storm have not monitored the health of their unit members.

WE encourage Desert Storm veterans to set up SPECIFIC UNIT FACEBOOK PAGES on their unit they served with during 1990-91 and reconnect and get health surveys done. What we have always been missing is unit specific research by location in theater or nondeployed. The need is still there and we at Veterans Today will help you get the word out!

One Marine(from NY) did this back in the Government Reform and Oversight hearings in the 90's and Former Congressman Shays had him testify to the results. It took him awhile but I believe he located at least 98% of his people by reconnecting with the people that got involved in Family support type efforts during the war that had kept lists of family members, phone numbers, and locations. He reconnected and did a survey of his members and the symptoms and health problems they were having and testified to the results.

This should have been set up when we served and tracked at every unit but it was not done but it is never too late and may definitely help investigators and researchers. It may trigger a closer look at Gulf War Illnesses by our elected officials in DC and encourage the VA to do the same! The Gulf War I Veterans from 1990-91 will not be forgotten!

WE also ask DOD to make changes now to track the health of their current troops better, a lesson we thought they had learned from Gulf War 1. The obligation starts while we are in service and should never end! It does not just rest with Medical service personnel or those at the top but at unit level! Units should have logs and computerized systems to track their indivduals so that later as troops transition to VA that they can also be reporting back to their own specific unit to compile the data. It is an officer's duty the health and welfare of their unit members. It goes up and down the chain of command!

I will say that a congrats go out to the Charleston unit individual and his concerned NCOIC's that provided the information and has been tracking the problem through the years and sharing the information in the form of a newsletter informal to the past and current members of Charleston Aircrew alumni.

The names of those deaths , crew position, and cause of death that I was provided are:

1. SMSGT George Culp Loadmaster AS 300 Brain Tumor
2. MSGT Robert Sheffield Loadmaster AS707 Brain Tumor
3. MSGT Craig Morris Loadmaster AS707 Colon Cancer
4. SMSGT Barron Foster Loadmaster AS707 Brain Tumor Eye/Brain
5. TSGT Charlie Radford Loadmaster AS707 Tumor
6. SSGT Phillipe Manore Loadmaster 16 AS 707 Cancer
7. MSGT Herb Loveless Flight Engineer AS 707 Cancer(chest)
8. MSGT Ed Goble AS 315 Colon Cancer
9. MSGT Rick Meyer AS 707 Flight Engineer*
10. MSGT William Hawthorne AS 315 Flight Engineer*
11. COL Archibald Martin Flight Surgeon AW 701 Cancer
12. TSGT Candice Taylor Engineer AS 707 Blood Disease
13. SMSGT Warren Thompson Loadmaster AS 707 Cancer
14. COL Bruce Dobbs Pilot Cancer
15. LTCOL Trigg Wood Pilot Brain Tumor
16. MSGT Elmore Jackson Load Master Cancer
17. LTCOL Jeff Bland Pilot Questionable Death*
18. LTCOL Glenn Butler Pilot Cancer
19. Major Tom Legodais Pilot Stroke
20. Col James Miller Combat Sgdn/CC Unknown*
21. SMSGT Dallas Sims 8 MAS/51 AP Sqnd Unknown*
22. JoAnn Russell 315th Current OPS EYE and Liver Cancer
23 MSGT Buck Owens Flight Engineer Home Fire *

The ones listed as ill : 20 are cancers, 1 bilateral renal failure, , 1 kidney disease(unspecified)

Friday, July 17, 2009

UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs

Opinion
Sharp Sticks

UPDATE: DOT IG urged to investigate one of FAA’s top docs

By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
07/17/09 12:05 AM EDT

For the past two and a half years, Dr. Michael A. Berry has been the manager of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Medical Specialties Division, Office of Aeronautical Medicine. According to an FAA spokesperson, Dr. Berry is in charge of medically certifying the fitness of all pilots and air traffic controllers in the United States. But some current and former airline employees say that Dr. Berry himself is not fit for the job.

A former Continental Airlines pilot who was medically grounded after complaining about safety problems in the cockpit told The Examiner that “the dreaded Dr. Berry,” as he is known among some pilots, falsified his medical records by telling the FAA he had “a neurological condition (seizure)” that ended his 17-year flying career.

“Dr. Berry found me ‘unfit for duty’ with no corroborating medical evidence, based upon a phone call to the pilot about whom I had complained... and then had the audacity to ask me for money to pay him to take care of it. He even wrote this in his notes...if I decided to work with him, he’d have to charge me for his time.”

The seizure diagnosis was refuted by the other pilot in a sworn affadavit dated Sept. 11, 2008: “I never told Dr. Berry that [the] First Officer...was unconscious or even had a disturbance of consciousness.”

In a written complaint to the FBI, the grounded pilot outlined what he called “The Berry System”:

* An airline pilot falls into disfavor with his employer, often for voicing safety concerns.
* The airline tells the pilot he will be fired if he doesn’t go see Dr. Berry.
* Dr. Berry reassures the pilot, saying he can’t do anything to get the pilot grounded.
* Dr. Berry informs the pilot that the exam results are all “perfectly normal” and asks why he’s there.
* The pilot complains about somebody and/or something at the airline.
* Dr. Berry falsifies a story based partly upon statements made about the pilot by fellow crewmembers.
* Ignoring any clinical evidence and opinions of other medical specialists, Dr. Berry finds the pilot “unfit for duty” and begins lobbying the FAA (paid for on an hourly basis by the airline) to begin the process of revoking the pilot’s medical certificate.
* Dr. Berry fraudulently alters the pilot’s past medical history.
* Dr. Berry refuses to send a copy of the fraudulent report to the pilot
* Dr. Berry calls the pilot and makes ambiguous statements about his report, then attempts to extort money from the pilot to “take care of it.”
* If the pilot rejects his “offer,” Dr. Berry sends his fraudulent reports to the FAA, deliberately excluding all data that is in the pilot’s favor (in violation of 18 U.S. Code Sec. 1001:3571).
* A friend of Dr. Berry’s at the FAA (Dr. Warren Silberman, DO) revokes the pilot’s FAA medical certificate via letter and immediately faxes a copy of the revocation letter to Dr. Berry.
* When the airline gets hit with a lawsuit, Dr. Berry sends them a copy of the FAA’s letter which, in reality, is nothing more than a product of his fraudulent scheme.
* The airline uses the FAA’s letter to effect the outcome of the lawsuit (and various other legal proceedings/investigations) in its favor.
* If the pilot complains to the State Board of Medical Examiners, Dr. Berry uses the FAA’s letter as “evidence” that he has done nothing wrong.
* The pilot becomes both unemployed and unemployable – without any hope of legal recourse.”


The Examiner has also obtained a copy of a letter from an anonymous employee at Continental Airlines that was sent to U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel III on July 7, confirming the former Continental pilot’s account, and also alleging that Dr. Berry paid kickbacks to a former Continental executive:

“I can confirm recent reports from the Washington Examiner (and a few years earlier, USA Today) where stories were written about Continental’s harassment of pilots who complain about safety and other issues.

“Continental is a great company, but has a certain rogue element left over from the days of [former Continental CEO] Frank Lorenzo. Deb Reynolds, our Employee Assistance Program manager, had an arrangement with an unscrupulous doctor named Mike Berry, and working together they would rid the airline of unwanted pilots. Deb actually received a commission from Berry, and usually screened pilots for financial status and sexual orientation before engaging in this program.

“Berry would harass the complaining pilots by sticking them with needles to draw blood and poking his finger up their anuses, with the message being clear: we can do whatever we want with you.

“If the pilot complained further, Berry would make up an ambiguous story and try to get the pilot to pay him not to send it to the FAA. If the pilot wouldn’t pay him, he’d send it to his friend at the FAA, who would revoke the pilot’s medical certificate.

“Berry made a lot of money doing this, and was financially protected by us using the same arrangement he had at other airlines. Berry became very conceited, and left a substantial paperwork trail. You need to investigate this.”

Former Delta pilot Wayne “Captain WOW” Witter was also grounded by Dr. Berry for alleged health and psychiatric problems in 1993. Witter, a Naval Academy graduate (class of ’61) who won two Distinguished Flying Crosses in Vietnam, says despite his outstanding military career and 36,000 hours of flight time, Delta targeted him for dismissal in the 90’s after he and other employees began exposing pension fraud that led to the airline being forced to pay $640 million in federal penalties.

Witter says an FAA employee in Oklahoma told him that Dr. Berry had gone out there two or three at company expense in an effort to get the FAA to pull Witter’s medical certificate. Witter says other pilots personally told him that Dr. Berry extorted them, asking “How much is it worth to you?” to keep information that could ground them out of their files.

Capt. Witter appealed his medical grounding to the National Transportation Safety Board, which ordered him reinstated at Delta, although he was not allowed to fly again.

“Berry is one of the most dishonest men I’ve ever met, who has ruined more lives, all for power and money,” the now retired Witter told me.. After Dr. Berry’s unethical tactics were exposed during his appeal, Witter added, Delta stopped using him as its medical specialist.

Now he’s in charge of every FAA specialist in the country.


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Legislative Action Alert!


The House of Representatives recently passed HR 1507, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2009, while the Senate version of this legislation, S.772, is still in work-up in committee. It is urgently requested that you please contact your senators requesting that they adopt the stronger language contained in the House bill in their final legislation.

Your senators may be contacted here.

Additionally, please contact your family members, friends, and neighbors, as well as your friends, associates, and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and MySpace and direct them to this link by a copy/paste of the URL on your email/site.

As you fully realize, as has been reported in media recently, numerous whistleblowers, federal as well as airline aircrew members, have been wrongfully terminated or punished, suppressed and intimidated for speaking out on serious issues concerning deteriorating commercial air safety the past several years. As a result, passengers and aircrew members lives have been lost. This must be promptly corrected by appropriate and meaningful congressional legislation. The language of HR 1507 is a move in the right direction.

Also, the establishment of an independent whistleblower investigation office, as provided for in section 331 of HR 915 , is critical in ensuring that whistleblower safety disclosures are properly reviewed and not suppressed, as has been documented so many times in the past.

Members of the FAA Whistleblowers Alliance and our association have joined political hands with members of the Government Accountability Project in demanding accountability in government, while protecting the rights of whistle blowers through a fair and impartial justice system, which includes a jury trial. It should be noted that a full 98% of federal whistle blower cases that even reach the appelate level are dismissed. This stunning statistic alone gives cause for great alarm and hopefully will sound as your clarion call to politically respond by contacting your senators immediately.

During the fall 2006 congressional mid-term election cycle, the Democratic Party campaigned with a promise of 'draining the swamp' and 'ridding us of the culture of corruption'. Last year, President Obama ran on a platform that guaranteed us we would see a 'greater openness of government' during his term in office. During his the first day of his confirmation hearing, Attorney General Holder affirmed his full support of whistle blowers and the importance of guaranteeing imunity for reporting alleged wrongdoing.

Additionally, Attorney General Holder recently remarked that we have become a 'nation of cowards'. Whistle blowers must necessarily transcend the very real feelings of fear of speaking out without intimidation, and do so fully believing that the legal system will protect them, while the system of justice to uphold these laws are substantive and real. It is too late when whistle blowers realize that the illusory governmental systems of protection have abandoned and betrayed them, leaving these honest individuals to fend for themselves in a rigged judicial process.

In Closing...

It is once again asked that you help us promulate the existence of our website at http://www.airline-whistleblowers.org and our blog at http://airline-whistleblower.com to all your family, friends and neighbors. Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation.

Monday, July 13, 2009

FAA whistle-blower safety warnings found to have merit





FAA whistle-blower safety warnings found to have merit

July 2, 2009
FAA whistle-blower safety warnings found to have merit
Posted: 12:14 PM ET
American Morning - amFIX
Filed under: Airline safety

By Allan Chernoff
CNN Sr. Correspondent

A federal investigation into Federal Aviation Administration employee whistle-blower safety complaints has found more than two dozen to be on the mark, CNN has learned, potentially putting the public’s safety at risk.

The federal Office of Special Counsel, which investigates allegations of reprisal against whistle-blowers, tells CNN it has made a “positive determination” that the FAA improperly responded to 27 current cases of FAA employee whistle-blowers warning of safety violations ranging from airline maintenance concerns to runway and air traffic control issues.

“It means that FAA is a very sick agency,” said Tom Devine, legal director of the non-profit Government Accountability Project. “There’s never been an agency that’s had that large of a surge of whistle-blowers whose concerns were vindicated by the government’s official whistle-blower protection office.”

The Department of Transportation told CNN, “We acknowledge it’s a large number of cases.”

“We take whistle-blower complaints very seriously and we fully cooperate with all of the investigations,” said FAA spokesperson Laura J. Brown.

Among the warnings found to have merit are those of FAA inspector Christopher Monteleon, who flagged safety problems at Colgan Air for several years before a Colgan plane crashed near Buffalo in February killing 50 people. He told CNN he’s faced retaliation at the FAA for pointing out issues including faulty aircraft manuals and poor cockpit procedures he observed during in-flight aircraft testing.

“My supervisor called me into his office and said, ‘Stop your investigation.’ He said that these violations never occurred,” said Monteleon.

But Monteleon continued raising safety concerns about the airline. Eventually he was demoted and put on leave of absence.

“I had my aviation inspector credentials taken from me,” Monteleon told CNN. “It has just been humiliating. It’s been awful.”

The FAA says it does not believe any of Monteleon’s reassignments were retaliatory, and cannot comment further because this is a personnel issue covered by privacy laws.

While the Office of Special Counsel has found merit in Monteleon’s charges of safety violations, the Special Counsel continues to investigate his claim that he was the victim of retaliation for pressing his safety concerns.

Though passenger safety is at stake, the Office of Special Counsel found the FAA has repeatedly deferred to the airlines it regulates.

“That’s shocking, and it’s really unconscionable for a government agency that’s supposed to be about safety, not about witch hunts for those who find safety lacking,” said Mary Schiavo, inspector general of the Department of Transportation from 1990-1996, who is now an attorney representing families of accident victims.

What’s going on at FAA? Critics say it’s the culture.

In 2003, former FAA administrator Marion Blakey established a “Customer Service Initiative” that defined airlines as customers, rather than the flying public. The current Transportation Department inspector general Calvin Scovel, found, “FAA’s definition of its customer has had a pervasively negative, although unintended, impact on its oversight program.”

While there’s no evidence of illegal dealings, the FAA has an active revolving door. Agency managers regularly go on to work in the aviation industry while industry executives take top spots at FAA.

-Former FAA administrator Marion Blakey is now president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association.

-Former FAA chief operating officer Russell Chew moved on to become president of Jet Blue Airways, where he just stepped down and took on the role of Senior Adviser for the company.

-FAA’s chief operating officer of air traffic, Hank Krakowski, came from United Airlines where he held a number of senior management positions, including vice president of flight operations.

-Linda Daschle, wife of the former Senate Democratic leader, was the FAA’s acting administrator, and then became a lobbyist representing the airline industry.

“There’s a very cozy relationship between the lobbyists for the industry and the Department of Transportation and the FAA,” said Schiavo.

As in all federal agencies, senior executives leaving the FAA are subject to a one-year “cooling off” period that forbids them from representing a client before the FAA.

The new transportation secretary Ray LaHood and FAA administrator Randy BabbitT, who took office June 1, say they will make sure whistle-blowers are heard.

“We will pay attention to any kind of complaint or accusation or any concern expressed by an employee of FAA. It’s a new day at the FAA and at DOT,” LaHood told CNN.

FAA last year established a Safety Issues Reporting System for employees to raise safety concerns. FAA also tracks employee hotline complaints in its General Counsel Office.

But, the agency has resisted calls to establish an independent office to investigate whistle-blower safety claims. The pending House bill to reauthorize FAA would require the agency to establish such an office. The Senate still has to write its version of the bill.

The Office of Special Counsel has referred all 27 cases to the transportation secretary who is investigating and must tell the Special Counsel what steps will be taken to fix the safety problems.

UPDATE: FAA inspectors pounded for doing their job






UPDATE: FAA inspectors pounded for doing their job

By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Local Opinion Editor
07/09/09 12:05 AM EDT

A former FAA safety inspector has asked the Office of Special Counsel to refer a 2005 plane crash near Miami to the Department of Justice to file charges of criminal negligence, manslaughter and a coverup by officials in the Federal Aviation Administration.

Gabe Bruno says that at least one mechanic with phony certification worked on Chalks Ocean Airway’s 58-year-old Grumman G-73T Mallard, which lost a wing and crashed off the coast of Miami shortly after takeoff, killing all 20 people aboard. The mechanic was tested and licensed by Anthony St. George, who was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in jail FAA for basically selling mechanics licenses without making sure they knew what they were doing.

In 2002, Bruno says, he instituted a retesting program for the 2,000 or so mechanics that were certified by St. George. “The failure rate for the 300 people we retested was between 75 and 80 percent,” he told me.

But former FAA assistant administrator Nicholas Sabatini cancelled the program over Bruno’s strong objections. When retesting was finally reinstated, Bruno says, “it was a rubber-stamp sham, with nobody assigned to monitor the results.”

http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=1625

Three days after the Chalks accident, a mechanic certified by St. George failed the new “dumbed down” exam, and also failed a second exam – even after being given a month to study. “We would have had this guy out of the system three years before” if the FAA’s aviation safety standards were actually being enforced, Bruno pointed out. But in the FAA’s current “culture of non accountability,” mechanics with fraudulent licenses from St. George are still working on aircraft today, endangering the flying public.

And since 2001, Bruno added, a “culture of cronyism” has pervaded the FAA, diminishing the agency’s effectiveness, compromising its ability to protect air passengers and violating the public trust.

“At one time, FAA was the gold standard in the world,” Bruno told me. “But for the past several years, there’s been a lot of disregard for the standards” of aviation safety. Worse, when conscientious FAA employees point out instances in which the agency is caught violating its own standards, they often face harsh retaliation from their own supervisors.

FAA is supposed to make sure that all aircraft meet stringent safety requirements. However, in the past few years, Bruno says, shutting down investigations and retaliating against the very people trying to protect the public has become “the normal way of doing business” at FAA.

Bruno, a 28-year employee and current head of the FAA Whistleblowers Alliance, says he was forced out of his job as a safety manager by Sabatini - who retired after he was caught making “misleading’ statements to Congress - after Bruno handled the merger between troubled Value Jet and Air Tran. “I delivered an operational airline in full compliance [with FAA standards], but FAA refused to approve the application,” Bruno told me. He believes he was forced out of his job because of Sabatini’s personal involvement in fast-tracking the FAA certification of Jet Blue – Air Tran’s major competitor on the East Coast.

“FAA was supposed to be cleaned out top to bottom,” Bruno says. “That hasn’t happened. FAA is supposed to be a safety agency, not a political agency, but their number one product now is office politics.” And many managers who compromised public safety in the past are still ensconced there.

Bruno cited the case of Christopher Monteleon, another FAA safety inspector who brought up pilot training problems and other serious safety concerns at Colgan Air – the subject of two Senate Aviation Subcommittee hearings in June - at least a year before the crash in Buffalo that killed 50 people.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06042009/news/nationalnews/buffalo_crash_whistleblower_silenced_172543.htm

But instead of requiring Colgan to fix the problems he cited, Monteleon’s inspector credential were revoked, he was taken off the case, reassigned three times and is now on administrative leave. He reportedly is even barred from entering FAA or Dept. of Transportation headquarters in Washington even though, as Bruno points out, “everything he said would happen happened.”

“FAA inspectors who are trying to do their job are getting pounded,” Bruno says. Which should greatly alarm anybody who plans on boarding an airplane anytime soon.

Senate panel misses the point on aviation safety delays by FAA






Senate panel misses the point on aviation safety delays by FAA

By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Examiner Columnist | 6/22/09 5:46 AM

Leave it to Congress to hold not one, but two public hearings and still not get to the heart of the matter: For at least six years, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has failed to heed warnings by airline pilots who reported serious safety concerns that put the public at risk. And the very same safety issues are still not being adequately addressed now.

Like the first hearing held a week earlier, last Wednesday’s inquiry by the Senate Aviation Subcommittee focused on the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo, which killed all 50 people aboard and one on the ground. The lack of adequate training and pilot fatigue were cited as the two major contributing factors by FAA administrator Randy Babbitt and National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Mark Rosenker.

However, neither Babbit nor Rosenker mentioned the fact that FAA had been warned about these same issues six years prior to the Colgan crash by commercial pilots with sterling cockpit credentials and decades of flying experience. Instead of being commended for their candor, these pilots were medically grounded in retaliation for speaking up. Instead of defending their own members, the Airline Pilots Association looked the other way as their lives and careers were ruined.

Yet not one of these former pilots were called to testify before the subcommittee, even though several offered to do so and even traveled to Washington at their own expense. Consequently, none of the senators, including chairman Byron Dorgan, D-ND, asked Mr. Babbitt exactly how he planned to prevent future suppression of mandated safety warnings by airline and FAA officials.

Former United captain Dan Hanley, head of the Whistleblowing United Pilots Association, wasn’t allowed to tell subcommittee members that he was forced out of the cockpit after complaining about pilot fatigue – the same issue the subcommittee is now investigating - and that the same kind of legal and economic pressures the airlines experienced after 9/11 still prevent pilots from voicing their concerns.

A former Continental pilot said that a physician who fabricated a medical diagnosis that permanently grounded him after he filed a safety complaint now works for the FAA, so those who muster the courage to speak out are still being threatened with losing their jobs. But because he wasn’t allowed to testify either, Babbitt wasn’t questioned about it.

An overworked young pilot told me that calling in to report excessive fatigue means he will not only lose his own pay, but his entire flight crew would also be docked as well. This policy puts added pressure on sleep-deprived pilots to fly even when physically impaired.

Why didn’t the FAA address the pilot fatigue issue before 51 people died? Babbitt should have been asked, but wasn’t.

Airline passengers literally put their lives in the hands of airline pilots every day. They should be appalled to learn that the federal agency with direct responsibility for aviation safety has ignored safety warnings by pilots and allowed airline management to interfere with its mission to protect the flying public. And that members of Congress are still letting them get away with it.

Barbara F. Hollingsworth is the Examiner’s local opinion editor.

FAA is still ignoring the warnings







FAA is still ignoring the warnings

By: Barbara Hollingsworth
Examiner Columnist | 6/11/09 3:52 PM

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials have failed to act on some 450 recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to improve aviation safety, acting NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker told members of the Senate Aviation Subcommittee yesterday.

The panel is investigating the fatal crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo.

"Some have been ignored for as many as 10 to 15 years," Rosenker added.

The list includes two recommendations specifically designed to prevent mid-air collisions with gliders. During the last two decades, nine people died and three were injured in preventable mid-air collisions between motorized aircraft and gliders. There have been dozens of near-misses that could have taken many more lives.

But that's not all the FAA has been ignoring. The agency charged with ensuring the public's safety in the skies has not heeded warnings by highly qualified and experienced pilots, some of whom were forced out of the cockpit in retaliation for reporting their concerns.

Rosenker cited the problem of pilot fatigue as a major contributing factor in what Dorgan called a "stunning set of failures" in the Colgan crash. But in 2003, when former United Airlines captain Dan Hanley filed a federally mandated Airline Safety Action Report (ASAP) after listening to overworked pilots talking in a London bar about falling asleep on transatlantic flights and letting the aircraft basically fly itself, he was "immediately taken out of the schedule" and medically grounded on trumped-up psychiatric grounds in retaliation, ending an unblemished 35-year career as a naval and commercial aviator.

Pilots who are still flying told The Examiner that they have heard of similar medical groundings, which they admit have a chilling effect on their willingness to report serious safety problems they encounter in the air. But so far, no pilots have been called to testify before the Senate subcommittee.

Newly appointed FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told senators that his agency is upgrading training standards for pilots and plans to require all commercial carriers to have ASAP programs in place.

But Babbitt also defended the FAA's past treatment of whistleblowers. "I am convinced the FAA took appropriate action," he said, even though experienced pilots like Hanley, with decades of flying experience, were forced out of their jobs for raising exactly the same safety concerns Babbitt now promises to address.

Department of Transportation inspector general Calvin Scovel disagreed with Babbitt, telling subcommittee members that he has "concerns regarding FAA's failure to protect employees who report safety issues from retaliation from other FAA employees."

In other words, instead of rewarding airline pilots and even its own employees for speaking up about aviation safety issues, the FAA punishes them. This kind of culture is poisonous in an agency whose mission is to safeguard the flying public.

It was also quite surprising that during Wednesday's hearing, neither Rosenker nor Babbitt mentioned a 2007 Airworthiness Directive the FAA issued on the Bombardier Model DHC-8 series that warned of "erroneous/misleading altitude and airspeed information" from pitot static probes, devices that measure airspeed. If the probes malfunctioned on the Colgan DHC-8, Capt. Marvin Renslow may not have known his correct airspeed.

"Pilots learn on the second day of flight training not to get too slow," Keith Karnofsky, a former Eastern Airlines pilot and flight instructor. Karnofsky, who lives in Buffalo and runs the www.airline-crash-analysis.com blog, told The Examiner:

"The [Colgan flight's] speed degraded from 180 to 130 knots in 25 seconds. Unless [Capt. Renslow] wanted to die, it couldn't have been him. There are characteristics of this airplane that would have made rapid speed loss highly probable" - characteristics the FAA was aware of more than two years ago.

Aviation "is a business in which one mistake is one too many," Babbitt told subcommittee members. But if that's the case, the FAA is well over the acceptable limit.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Toxic plane air sickens flight attendant, suit says





Toxic plane air sickens flight attendant, suit says

* Story Highlights
* A flight attendant claims a cabin 'fume event' on a plane left her chronically ill
* Product liability suit blames Boeing for not having filters, sensors in place
* Since April 2007, she's suffered from chronic migraines, tremors and vision loss
* Suit follows years of recommendations about 'bleed air," which Boeing says is safe

By Jessica Ravitz
CNN

(CNN) -- The last time Terry Williams can remember being headache-free was in December. A chronic migraine has plagued her ever since. So have balance and vision problems, a tremor in her left arm, a prickly sensation in her feet and a loss of childhood memories.

The ailments, she says, began April 11, 2007. Williams, then a veteran American Airlines flight attendant of 17 years, noticed a "misty haze type of smoke" on Flight 843 as it taxied toward a gate in Dallas, Texas.

That "fume event," as it is known, and the physical maladies she felt afterward drove Williams, 40, to file a product liability lawsuit late Tuesday in Seattle, Washington, against Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, aircraft manufacturers linked to the MD-82 aircraft she was on. Her claim: Toxins in the cabin's air made her sick, and a design flaw -- the lack of filters and sensors -- left her unprotected.

They "knew or should have known that toxic nerve agents, contaminates, and dangerous fumes could bleed into the plane's ventilation system, causing serious and irreversible health effects," her attorneys said in a written statement.

Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher said he was "aware of the lawsuit" but couldn't "discuss details of it at this time."

He then added, "Regarding the issue that the suit appears to raise, I can say that we believe that the air in airplane cabins is safe." VideoWatch Williams discuss her suit »

McDonnell Douglas is no longer in business. It merged with Boeing in the late 1990s to form the Boeing Co., so Blecher said he spoke on behalf of both entities.

"Since we're not named in the suit and it was just filed, we have no comment at this time," said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines. "We'll watch the lawsuit as it progresses."

The 'same color as antifreeze'

Between a tickle in her throat, cough and headache, Williams thought she had the start of a common cold when she stepped off the flight in question. But she says the symptoms grew worse and included a nasal discharge she described as "neon green, the same color as antifreeze."

Within several weeks, Williams says, she had to make repeated visits to emergency rooms before a neurologist told her she'd been the victim of toxic exposure.

Since the early 1960s, air in passenger jets has typically combined re-circulated existing cabin air with air bled off the engines. The air pulled into the engines is cooled and compressed before it is pumped into the the plane. It is this "bleed air" that Williams' suit claims was contaminated. See how "bleed air" enters a plane's ventilation system »

Leaks in the seals that keep engine oil in place could cause chemically laden fumes to enter the air stream, said William Nazaroff, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of California, Berkeley.

"A specific chemical of concern is tricresyl phosphate," he said, a chemical compound used in nerve agents and pesticides. "Historically, there have been some neurotoxic health consequences from high human exposures to [tricresyl phosphate]."

How often "fume events" happen, and how often they are reported, is disputed.

A National Research Council report in 2002, using data from three Canadian airlines, said that on one aircraft model, nearly four out of 1,000 flights had a fume event.

The Committee on Toxicity in the United Kingdom, a group made up of independent experts who advise government agencies, said in September 2007 that pilots reported events in 1 percent of flights and that maintenance inspected and confirmed incidents in 0.05 percent of flights.

"These frequency estimates may all sound low, but consider that there were 10.65 million flights on U.S. registered aircraft in 2008. Even 0.05 percent of flights translates into about 14 events per day," said Judith Murawski, an industrial hygienist with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, who has studied the issue for more than nine years.

Most of the flying public has never heard of "fume events," and employees, especially in this economy, may stay mum for job security reasons, Murawski said. Flight attendants who become too sick to work -- and Murawski estimates that there have been hundreds -- usually file a workers' compensation claim, which Williams has also done.

'Bleed air' research spans decades

The Federal Aviation Administration does not dismiss the possibility of fume events and the potential health dangers.

"The concerns are reasonable and are being investigated," the agency said in a written response to CNN's questions about the issue.

"These symptoms" -- including memory loss, vision impairment, tremors, headaches and vomiting -- "have been attributed to exposure to tricresyl phosphate (TCP) and other breakdown products of hydraulic fluid, fuel, deicing fluid and engine oil," it said.

The statement also said, however, that the same symptoms occur as a result of other neurological conditions. The FAA said researchers at seven universities involved in Airliner Cabin Environment Research are trying "to assess the level of exposure to toxic chemicals in aircraft and to correlate any verified exposures with crew and passenger symptoms."

The first known written report about exposure to toxins on airplanes -- entitled "Human Intoxication Following Inhalation Exposure to Synthetic Jet Lubricating Oil" -- was submitted in 1977 by a team of doctors, including those affiliated with a pulmonary-toxicology lab at a VA Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Their investigation focused on a case of a "previously healthy" 34-year-old military pilot who became "acutely incapacitated" while flying after being exposed to "aerosolized or vaporized synthetic lubricating oil," the doctors wrote in the report. They said further investigation was "definitely warranted."

In 1986, the National Research Council, an operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, conducted -- at the request of Congress -- an independent study and produced a report entitled "The Airliner Cabin Environment: Air Quality and Safety." In this, the council raised myriad concerns about air quality in cabins, including exposure to contaminants.

The research council was enlisted again by Congress about 15 years later. The result was the 2002 report "The Airliner Cabin Environment and the Health of Passengers and Crews." In its own language responding to the NRC's recommendation regarding air quality and ventilation, the FAA said it "has not kept pace with public expectation and concern about air quality" and cannot guarantee protection from contamination "because no airplane design incorporates an air contaminant monitoring system."

In its statement to CNN, the FAA said it "supports all of the NRC's recommendations and continues to monitor the development of data on cabin air contamination to ensure the health of the flying public."

Christiaan van Netten, an environmental toxicologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, devised a simple device to measure air quality on planes. Seventy-five of the hand-held monitors were used in a study conducted by the Occupational Health Research Consortium in Aviation, a project that was funded by the FAA.

Van Netten says he's not at liberty to talk about the results because this report was submitted last month and is being reviewed by the FAA. But he said more comprehensive and transparent air-quality testing would only help the industry.

"When you don't have access to real information, people go from one extreme to another," he said. "By not addressing the facts, you open yourself up to all sorts of wild speculation."

Others also report exposure

Tristan Loraine, an English pilot who said he was forced to retire because contaminated bleed air made him sick, thinks the airline industry is more concerned about profits than protecting passengers and employees. His experience drove him to create a documentary titled "Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines."

He and others say it's difficult for doctors to diagnose exposure and that the effect on individuals -- based on differing immune systems, enzyme levels, medications -- varies dramatically. For this reason, there's a chance Williams alone may have reported a reaction to the fume event on her flight.

Clement Furlong, a research professor in the departments of medicine and genome sciences at the University of Washington, has worked since 2005 to develop a simple blood test to determine whether a person has been exposed to contaminated bleed air. He says he's getting close.

"If we have 10 boxes to check to be there, we've checked off nine," he said.

Terry Williams is not the only person claiming ill effects of bad cabin air. Her attorneys also represent twin sisters, 45, who say they were sickened on a Southwest Airlines flight in January -- one that was diverted for what they called an "unexplained malfunction."

A spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, Brandy King, confirmed that the flight had been diverted but would not say why and would add only, "We are actively collecting information and reviewing the sequence of events."

Another aviation attorney out of Chicago, Illinois, represents 20 U.K. passengers who say they became sick two years ago on a charter flight to Orlando, Florida.

"There's been enough research to show that indeed this is a problem, and it's now time to implement solutions," said Christopher Witkowski, director of air safety, health and security for the union AFA-CWA.

The issue gained traction in the mid-1990s, Murawski says, because by then most airlines had banned in-flight smoking and people began noticing other smells and hazes. But after September 11, she says the industry's priorities turned full-throttle to an entirely different safety issue.

Changes on the horizon

Those concerned about fume events point to recent developments that give them hope.

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, set to roll out soon, does not use bleed air and instead compresses atmospheric air from outside the plane. Blecher, the Boeing spokesman, said electrical system advances that improve efficiency -- and not concerns over bleed air -- inspired the change.

Meanwhile, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, which passed in the House and is now in a Senate committee, calls for research and development of sensor and air cleaning technology to remove "oil-based contaminants from the bleed air."

The Australian government's Civil Aviation Safety Authority set up an Expert Panel on Aircraft Air Quality to review this issue. And on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Parliament held a debate about aircraft air quality, specifically discussing design flaws that might expose people to toxic fumes.

Williams, who lives outside Seattle and has 3- and 4-year-old boys, said she's pursuing the lawsuit because she doesn't want others to suffer.

"I'm often unable to play with my children. I feel like I'm depriving my kids of a mom and my husband of a wife," she said, her voice cracking. "I walked off that plane and have never been the same. ... If I can educate anyone and help raise public awareness to stop this from happening, hopefully changes can be made to keep people healthy."