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Aerotoxic syndrome
Keith Rix 1013

Aerotoxic syndrome

byKeith Rix

 

Commentary

Personal injury claims are being brought by approximately 220 pilots and cabin crew at the High Court in London on the grounds of aerotoxic syndrome (ATS). This group of claimants includes 51 claims which were issued by Thompsons in March 2019 involving pilots and cabin crew working for EasyJet, British Airways, Thomas Cook, Jet2 and Virgin Atlantic. These two claims are not included in these ongoing English collective proceedings. These were claims by two pilots who lost the chance of bringing successful claims as a result of the admitted negligence of a Scottish law practice.

Although the central medical issue in this case was aerotoxicity, it is important to bear in mind that what the court did not have to decide whether the pursuers, airline pilots, had proved causation on the balance of probabilities. Rather, it was required to value the chances of success in their underlying claims that they lost as a result of the solicitors’ admitted negligence. It is therefore important not to see this as a "trial within a trial". However, experts instructed in the collective proceedings will be greatly assisted by this judgment because it identifies the nature of the expert evidence that will be needed, it reveals how the credibility of experts may be challenged and how their evidence is likely to be tested by the adverse parties and judged by the court. 

Case

These were two separate actions. Both actions were brought by former pilots as clients against a firm of solicitors. Both pursuers were interested in pursuing claims for damages against their former employers. Ultimately, no such claims were brought by the defender on behalf of the pursuers. In each of the present actions, the pursuer sued the defender for breach of contract and reparation for the loss of a chance to have brought personal injury claims against their former employers.

In each case, the pursuer claimed that he suffers from a number of chronic symptoms which had prevented him from continuing his work as a pilot. Specifically, each pursuer claimed to suffer from aerotoxic syndrome (ATS). This is a controversial diagnosis. The condition is not recognised in the International Classification of Diseases and there are no generally accepted or validated diagnostic criteria for it. Each pursuer maintained that his condition had been caused by exposure to toxic fumes on a daily basis while he was employed as a pilot.

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