What’s That Weird Smell on Planes? Father Says It Caused a Traumatic Medical Emergency For 3-Year-Old Daughter

Have you ever sat on a plane just as it was pushing back from the gate when you started smelling something odd in the cabin, like a burning, chemical, or engine oil odor that made you feel uncomfortable and perhaps even a little queasy?

If you answered yes, you are far from alone. These kinds of smells are pretty common, especially for a few moments when the engines first power up, although the effect that these smells might have on your health is hotly debated.

In most cases, these smells are a little unpleasant but are momentary and don’t cause any health issues, but in some rare cases, passengers have experienced severe reactions to these odors, which can go on to cause long-term ill health effects.

But how you prove that these symptoms are connected to the odors on a plane is a major issue for anyone seeking redress for these incidents.

Dennis Ramkissoon from Florida, however, is hoping to convince a court that a weird chemical odor he and his three-year-old daughter recently experienced on a Delta Air Lines flight from Orlando to Atlanta caused a “traumatic medical emergency” that has left the toddler with a severe fear of flying.

The incident occurred on April 21, 2025, as the 24-year-old Boeing 757 was taxiing for departure. During this time, Dennis says a strong chemical odor similar to engine oil or exhaust fumes filled the cabin and sickened him and his daughter.

They both felt nauseous and were overcome with a headache, dizziness, and cognitive fog. Dennis’ daughter felt so ill that she vomited and cried in distress.

Dennis immediately alerted one of the flight attendants, but according to a recently filed lawsuit, he claims the crew member dismissed the odor as normal and didn’t offer any form of First Aid.

Delta Air Lines did not reply to a request for comment, so there’s no immediate way of knowing whether Dennis’ account is contested, but what we do know is that the same Boeing 757 has continued flying since April 21.

Some medical professionals believe that cabin air can become contaminated with “thermally degraded engine oil and hydraulic fluid” that is vaporized and fed into the airplane via the air conditioning system.

Nearly all commercial airplanes supply air to the cabin via a ‘bleed air’ system in which air is bled off the engine and into the plane. There is, therefore, the possibility that this air might become contaminated with fumes from oil and hydraulic liquid.

Campaigners have dubbed the long-term health effects of breathing in contaminated cabin air aerotoxic syndrome, which can sometimes present as “life-changing neurological symptoms.”

The aviation industry has firmly denied any connection between what they would rather be described as ‘odor events’ and long-term chronic health conditions, although some airlines admit that these incidents can cause short-lived acute issues like nausea and headache.

One of the biggest problems facing anyone who has been sickened by ‘toxic cabin air’ is proving it. After all, a court has to work with evidence, and that often means supplying proof that there was contaminated cabin air.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a single commercial airline in the world that has fitted cabin air monitors on its plane, and as these events are short-lived, by the time engineers are called to investigate a potential odor event, the smell can’t be replicated.

One other way for victims to prove they may have been affected by toxic cabin air is to get blood tests at a local hospital as soon after the incident as possible. There is, though, much debate over what blood tests are suitable, and it’s not unusual for medical staff to refuse to carry out tests.

There have, though, been some legal successes. In 2020, for example, an Oregan court ruled there was a causal link between a JetBlue pilot being exposed to toxic chemical fumes onboard an Airbus A320 aircraft and brain dysfunction and neural and cognitive disorder that he started to suffer after the event.

A year later, a former flight attendant at Dutch flag carrier KLM won a lawsuit against her ex-employer, alleging that exposure to contaminated cabin air had caused chronic neurological problems.

Matt’s take – This is a problem that won’t go away but one that airlines refuse to accept

I’ve been writing about the problem of contaminated cabin air and the massive life-changing effects it can have on pilots, cabin crew, and passengers ever since I started this blog, but little has changed in that time.

As a flight attendant, this is an issue that I consider important as the available evidence strongly suggests that aircrew are more likely to suffer the ill effects of contaminated cabin air.

That could be because aircrew fly a lot more than the regular passengers and are exposed to small amounts of contaminated air over a long period of time, or because they are more active during a flight and, therefore, breathe more in.

Terms like ‘aerotoxic’ are, though, fiercely opposed by the airline industry, which will only acknowledge that so-called odor events might cause short-term, minor health issues.