# Incident 19991201040159I: Doug MD88, Pittsburgh, PA, December 1, 1999

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 1, 1999, 16:28 local time
- Place: Pittsburgh, PA
- Airport: Greater Pittsburgh International
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: DALA
- Location: 40.4406° N, 79.9959° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Pittsburgh, PA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.4406&lon=-79.9959&mi=10
- Aircraft: N926DL, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N926DL-2019-04-08) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Mcdonnell Douglas MD-88 (registry code 3023688, https://openairdocs.org/model/mcdonnell-douglas-md-88) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney JT8D series (registry code 52053, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-jt8d-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: DOUG MD88
- Reported engine: PWA JT8D219
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 12,685 total, 2,037 in this make and model, 212 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19991201040159I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-5) ON DECEMBER 1, 1999, AT 16:28 LOCAL TIME, DELTA AIRLINES FLIGHT #1940, A MD-88 AIRPLANE, WAS ENROUTE FROM CINCINNATI, OH (CVG), TO PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND (PVD), AND MADE A DIVERSION TO THE PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (PIT). THE DIVERSION WAS MADE BECAUSE OF FUMES IN THE CABIN AREA AND SEVERAL PASSENGERS WERE COMPLAINING OF HEADACHE AND NAUSEA. THE FLIGHT LANDED AT (PIT), AND TAXIED TO THE GATE WITHOUT INCIDENT WHERE PASSENGERS WERE TREATED AND RELEASED BY PARAMEDICS. MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL INSPECTED THE AIRPLANE AT (PIT) TO FIND A CHEMICAL DEODORIZER SMELL IN THE AFT SECTION OF THE AIRPLANE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN THE SOURCE OF THE FUMES. THE AIRPLANE WAS THEN FERRIED TO CINCINNATI FOR FURTHER INSPECTION AND REPAIR. CARDINAL LABORATORIES, INC., CINCINNATI, OH PERFORMED AN INTENSIVE MASS SPECTROMETER ANALYSIS OF THE CARPETS TO DETERMINE IF THIS WAS THE SOURCE OF FUMES THAT CAUSED THE PASSENGERS TO BECOME ILL. CHIEF CHEMIST, DOMINIC D. RUSCHMAN, OF CARDINAL LABORATORIES, INC. PERFORMED THE ANALYSIS AND STATED THE FOLLOWING IN HIS REPORT. I AM NOT QUESTIONING WHETER SOMEONE BECAME ILL. WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE BECAME ILL DOES NOT REST WITHIN THE PARAMETERS  OF MY INVESTIGATION.  IT DOES REST WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS INVESTIGATION TO CONCLUDE THAT THE CARPETS WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR, NOR CAPABLE OF CAUSATION OF ILLNESS. THIS INVESTIGATION HAS NOT YET CONCLUDED THE REASONS WHY THE PASSENGERS OF DELTA FLIGHT #1940 BECAME ILL. AS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS RECEIVED AT THIS OFFICE, IT WILL BE PROMPTLY FORWARDED TO THE REGION AS AN AMENDMENT TO THIS FORM. SUPPORTIVE DOCUMENTATION TO THIS 8020-23 IS ALSO ENCLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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