Chemical sprayed inside planes?
 

Those of you who have flown recently from the states to J'burg or CT, did people come in and spray your planes with chemicals and did you have any warning?

We recently came back from Jo'berg to UK with Virgin and they sprayed our plane. No harm done in my opinion. Our plane was sprayed when I went to Kenya 20 odd years ago.

Holly

The spray is to stop the spread of fruit flies and other insects. But don't think "crop dusting". It's not at all irritating, fairly pleasant smelling and dissipates quickly. But it does the job (when was the last time anyone saw a fly on an aircraft?). It's fairly standard practice into and out of most countries. The crew do make an announcement that in accordance with health regulations they will be moving through the cabin and spraying shortly beforehand.

Wow! I have never heard of this. Do they spray while you are in the plane or before you board?

I can't imagine them spraying while people are all around because of the lawsuit possibilites from people like myself who have severe reactions to numerous chemicals. I will have to investigate this before flying there.

Jenny

Yup, on Virgin Atlantic and BA flights from J-Burg/ Cape Town to London, the crew walked up and down the aisles spraying the cabin (having made an announcement beforehand) before takeoff. As Traci and Holly say, it's standard practice for flights from certain countries, and totally harmless. They have to do it once everyone's on board and the doors are shut, because if they had to open the plane to let passengers on once they'd sprayed it, the benefits would be lost (bugs could enter the plane).

It never occurred to me that this might be grounds for a lawsuit!

I believe the spraying is mandated by law by the destination country and, another guess, that law indemnifies the airline against lawsuit. Thus, the government would have to be the party of any lawsuit and they are probably pretty well protected.

IOW, on a flight to Capetown, if BA sprays, any suit would have to be filed in SA and the law there probably would have the case dismissed immediately.

But many tests have been done and it's safe. Anyone with the possibility of a severe reaction should simply not fly on those flights. And someone cannot say they were not warned as it is probably deep in the airline tariffs which, as we all know, everyone should and DOES read before a flight!

Yes they spray with no warning. No chance to cover your face. Carry something in your lap to cover your face if you don't want to inhale it. I was shocked there was no warning and I don't think people should be force to breathe it in. Just my opinion. I will get a jacket or something to cover my face next time. It happened just before we landed at J'burg on SAA. Liz

Wow, this must be new! Our SAA flights in thr past few years, one just last fall, didn't have spraying. What's the cause, anything recent?

I do recall landing in Auckland, NZ in 1979, and being sprayed before deboarding, and being forced to sit there for 20 minutes afterward. Bad experience.

Itleyan-We went to Botswana in 1999, using SAA. The spraying was JUST as you described. No chance to cover your face. I don't question the need, I just question why I must inhale the spray. Liz

My god, now I remember - they did spary us in Maun last October, and coming back into J'Burg. But this was on Air Botswana. Don't recall anything on SAA ... but of course after an all-nighter on their plane I hardly recalled my name. There was this fab looking woman next to me, that much I recall. I started to say something, then realized I was married to her. Maybe I was sprayed afterall.

Itleyan-You are tooo funny! I don't remember being sprayed on Air Botswana, just the international carrier. I will carry something to cover by nose and mouth the next time I go to Africa. Liz

:) Liz, I knew I read it somewhere. Must have been one of your posts, thanks for writing about it - before and now.

We just flew back from Botswana. We were sprayed in Maun while on Air Botswana. We were not however, sprayed on SAA while in Jo'burg. If I recall correctly, the first time I was ever sprayed was on Air Zimbabwe last year as we were about to fly to London.
Joey

I suspect that whether there is spraying or not depends on the destination country as well as the departure country. For example, if you fly into Australia from anywhere they will spray the aircraft inflight. They have managed to keep many pests out of Australia and are keen to keep it that way. I think that airlines flying out of most places in Africa will spray. Flying domestically in SA you will not encounter any spraying.
About the advance notice, there has always been a warning from the crew before they spray each time I have experienced it. If you experience anything different then I would complain long and loudly to the airline top management. Remember to quote your flight number, date of journey and your seat number so that it can be addressed with the crew responsible. Liz, you should have been warned and if not, I would take it up with the airline.

We were warned. The cabin attendant was poised with a can in each hand and started down the aisle with cans spraying. There was nothing I could have done whether we were warned ahead or as it was going on. I would have brought a towel to cover my face. As it was I had nothing with me. I'm sure they did whatever was required, its just that it was my first experience with spraying inside the plane with passengers on board. Still seems they could pass out a nose and mouth mask or something. Oh well. Enough about that I suppose. Liz

At one time almost every carrier sprayed their planes coming and going from countries such as Jamaica, India, Australia, US, EU and lots of others, till most carriers stopped with the exception of flights from India and Jamaica... Qantas was one of the last carriers to stop spraying flites arriving there... and there were lots of law suits.
What they are using is basically "roach spray" and if anyone has ever set off a "bomb" to fumigate their home the instructions tell you to "leave for about three-hours"... that gives you an idea of the potency of the product.
Flight attendents were required to present the empty canisters to ground crew upon landing... eventually the crews knowing the danger of these chemicals would simply spray into the lav.

There are people who are allergic to the underlying chemicals regardless that today the spray is highly perfumed.
The chemicals are still dangerous to people who are sensitive to them.

On a BA flight ('98) from Nairobi to The Seychelles they announced the spraying... I simply disappearing into the lav for about an hour till the air cleared as best it could. Did the same on a SA flight ('01) from Vic Falls to JNB... into the lav.

It's most unfortunate the the carriers have to resume this procedure, but bugs fly and they'll fly on anything. West Nile just hopped aboard a plane and landed in NY three years ago. In reality they can spray the plane before passengers board, closeup the plan till boarding and this way the passengers and crew are not endangered. Will put money on it... but the lawsuits will start again.

Sandi, thank you - everyone's input has been valuable. This is a concern for anyone with a compromised immune system.