Gasoline smell?
 

I was flying MUC-BOS last evening and noticed a faint gasoline smell coming from the overhead airco just before take off and at arrival at the gate. Anyone noticed this before?
Other than that, the flight was excellent and the crew very attentative. So much better than US airlines.

Not really a Lufthansa subject, but here we go:
Most aircraft use "bleed air" for lots of things. This is clean air from outside the plane that is compressed and warmed by the engines. One of the systems that uses bleed air is the airconditioning on the ground. As the engines were started, there was probably some kersone fumes around the plane (this is an airport after all). In BOS, you might have been taxiing behing another plane.

Happens, perfectly normal. (Except that I gets my wife really nervous every time)

I have flown on LH A340 in past where they made an announcment re the smell due to the concern of some of the passengers. The explanation was that it is even more noticeable on this type of aircraft. No idea if this is true.

As this question is not LH/LX/OS/… or M&M related I'll move it to TravelBuzz!

Have a nice day

totti
M&M moderator

Yea, it's true.

Some aircraft are more susceptible to this phenomenon than others. It's an engine issue; that is, there's a small amount of "backwash" in the compressor section of the engine when bleed air is initially tapped for pack operation after an engine start. It commonly happens on 757's (I refer to those equipped with RB-211-535's; I'm not acquainted with the vagaries of Pratt's.) The effect can be mitigated if we momentarily delay the selection of packs to AUTO after engine start.

This particular effect is not caused by ambient fumes; rather, it's caused by the engine's internals.

jet-a fumes yes...gasoline no