I had a terrible flight back from Athens, with shortness of breath and almost a panic attack.

Turns out this is quite common if you smoke, have alcohol in your bloodstream and drink coffee, all of which I did,

Its called Hypoxia, and is caused because the airlines deliberately reduce the air circulation in the cabin when cruising to save fuel. Once you have taken off and are at full height, they reduce the flow. Normally everyone just falls asleep. If you have had coffee before hand, you may not, and if you smoke, you already have CO in your blood, which exasperates the effects.

It can lead to hallucinations, loss of consciousness, heart attacks, and many people think it is related to the big jump in air rage incidents recently.

I was on a Boeing 757 which recycles up to 50% of the air.

So watch out if you are flying long distances on a budget flight.

Dave L





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2005 12:16PM by Dave L.