News: Airline limits crews' North Pole exposure amid cancer fears
Mar 28, 2005, 10:34 pm
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News: Airline limits crews' North Pole exposure amid cancer fears
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...3/s1332197.htm (but from AFP)
Airline limits crews' North Pole exposure amid cancer fears
Airline Cathay Pacific has limited air crews' flights on the non-stop Hong Kong-New York route after it was found the journey could increase the likelihood of cancer.
Airline staff say they have been limited to just two of the ultra long-haul flights per month since it was found the route exposed passengers and crew to high levels of cosmic radiation when they flew over the North Pole.
Union chiefs have told the South China Morning Post that radiation levels increase markedly at 8,000 metres above the pole.
They say prolonged exposure could be harmful to cell DNA, possibly causing cancers.
"If you do two-and-a-half polar flights a month you are in the danger zone," Flight Attendants Union general secretary Becky Kwan was quoted as saying.
"At first when we heard about this everybody was worried. But we have had regular meetings with (air officials) and Cathay and guidance from an aviation doctor."
However, unions are concerned no such limits have been put on passenger flights.
The report says officials felt it unnecessary as customers do not fly enough to be at risk.
The airline is British-owned but Hong Kong-based.
- AFP
Airline limits crews' North Pole exposure amid cancer fears
Airline Cathay Pacific has limited air crews' flights on the non-stop Hong Kong-New York route after it was found the journey could increase the likelihood of cancer.
Airline staff say they have been limited to just two of the ultra long-haul flights per month since it was found the route exposed passengers and crew to high levels of cosmic radiation when they flew over the North Pole.
Union chiefs have told the South China Morning Post that radiation levels increase markedly at 8,000 metres above the pole.
They say prolonged exposure could be harmful to cell DNA, possibly causing cancers.
"If you do two-and-a-half polar flights a month you are in the danger zone," Flight Attendants Union general secretary Becky Kwan was quoted as saying.
"At first when we heard about this everybody was worried. But we have had regular meetings with (air officials) and Cathay and guidance from an aviation doctor."
However, unions are concerned no such limits have been put on passenger flights.
The report says officials felt it unnecessary as customers do not fly enough to be at risk.
The airline is British-owned but Hong Kong-based.
- AFP
Mar 31, 2005, 4:33 am
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Mar 31, 2005, 11:47 am
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