Flying despite Corona?
By Markus Steinhausen
Journalist & Producer AV-Medien
July 2020
The 3sat nano report with the title "Flying despite Corona?“, is unexpectedly creating waves widely. It was broadcasted in Switzerland’s news „10 to 10“ and then translated into Italian to be broadcasted also in the Swiss-Italian news.
On Tuesday, 21.07.2020, it will be shown on „NDR Visite“ (German TV), the NDR health magazine, for which my information will most likely be upgraded with further useful tips. They also want to add tips on how to protect yourself inflight using FFP2 masks. I would like to give passengers and flight personnel who are dependent on flying some important background information regarding this subject:
FFP2 masks are certified according to DIN EN 149. Only the NIOSH certified N95 masks in the USA are comparable, whereas many charlatans, e.g. from China, simply print N95 on their masks. According to Prof. Dr Frank Günther, head of hospital hygiene in Marburg/Germany, purchasing an N95 mask is a matter of luck. The only indication is a possible soft filter flow. The DIN-certified FFP2 masks must catch at least 94% of the particles in the air up to a size of 0.6 μm and may have a maximum of 11% leakage, i.e. only a maximum of 11% of the air inhaled may be breathed past the filter. These masks are in the main infection area, i.e. at a distance of 50 cm from the mouth, where the most concentrated aerosol formation occurs, and are 50 times more effective for protecting others and oneself than simple community masks (cotton single layer) and should be the standard for flying.
For my own protection, I fly only with FFP2 masks and always carry several of them with me to give them to my neighbours. This way I can reduce the risk of inhaling the air you exhale to 1% and be reasonably sure not to catch this often very serious virus because airlines fail completely concerning the safety measures for their passengers while fighting for survival. This can be seen by the fact that AIRBUS and Lufthansa continue to run their media on the net, which we have proved to be videos of lies. They have not been able to follow our requests for comments, which confirms their false statements in even greater depth.
In addition to the FFP2 mask, other self-protection recommendations can be made:
1. Turn off the air conditioning vent above you on the plane! It swirls convection air flows of your body (thermal) with the cold aircraft ventilation through the whole cabin. This statement can be substantiated with AIRBUS' own design documents. There, one is aware of the the considerable influence of passenger convection and has already worked on a much improved ventilation with DLR e.V. Be aware that aircraft ventilation is a a faulty design which violates the CS-25.831, because certification authorities (EASA, ICAO and IATA) fail worldwide, as already established by Professor of Aircraft Systems Engineering Dr Dieter Scholz and documented in January in front of my camera (see ARD Report Mainz: "Do toxic gases in aircraft harm personnel and passengers?) Aircraft ventilation has nothing to do with an operating room. The OR is a cleanroom of class 1a according to DIN. There are no standards at all for the quality of the air we breathe in the aircraft, it is only aimed at saving fuel and not at reducing health risks. The air exchange in the operating room is 10 times higher than in the cabin. Germs are displaced by laminar airflow, while aircraft ventilation only mixes germs and keeps them in the air much longer. The statements of many industrial lobbyists, such as Kirsten Winter (Lufthansa), Jean-Brice Dumont (AIRBUS) and Ralf Teckentrup (CEO Condor), that the air is completely exchanged in 2-3 minutes and that it is not distributed over the length of the aircraft, plus that the air quality is comparable to operating rooms’, are reckless and must be considered highly dangerous information for innocent lay-people(see: 3Sat nano: "Flying despite Corona?")!
2. Book a seat at the window and if possible in a back row. If you can, buy the middle seat to increase safety distances. As few passengers as possible should preferably sit as far away as possible. This will actively and significantly reduce your risk of infection. The engineer for aircraft systems technology Prof. Dr. Dieter Scholz from the HAW-Hamburg has calculated the risks and derived this recommendation. His elaborations are fully documented and publicly available on his website.
3. Stay in your seat during the entire flight to avoid air turbulence in the aisle. As Prof. Dr Qingyan Chen of Purdue University was able to show, the movements in the aisle of the aircraft contribute significantly to aerosol mixing in the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
4. Please always take care of your health! Covid-19 has been seriously underestimated by politicians and consulting virologists from the very beginning. Consequences of negligence are incalculable, the worldwide irrationality towards the disease leads to an ever-increasing spread. The serious and long-term secondary diseases in Covid-19 infected people are becoming increasingly clear and should be a reason to avoid unnecessary risks. Covid-19 has nothing to do with influenza and is not a lung disease. It is a multisystemic disease with many serious symptoms. The airplane is the decisive vehicle for the spread of the pandemic and, for globally networked humanity, the most dangerous means of mass transportation due to the lack of hygiene measures in the absence of adequate ventilation. Nevertheless, trains and public spaces with many people need your full attention in order to avoid worse.
Please accept my apologies for my heated letter, it has nothing to do with fear but is based on intense research and the respect derived from it. As a science journalist with a current focus on this disease, our health is of particular concern to me.
By Markus Steinhausen
Journalist & Producer AV-Medien
July 2020
The 3sat nano report with the title "Flying despite Corona?“, is unexpectedly creating waves widely. It was broadcasted in Switzerland’s news „10 to 10“ and then translated into Italian to be broadcasted also in the Swiss-Italian news.
On Tuesday, 21.07.2020, it will be shown on „NDR Visite“ (German TV), the NDR health magazine, for which my information will most likely be upgraded with further useful tips. They also want to add tips on how to protect yourself inflight using FFP2 masks. I would like to give passengers and flight personnel who are dependent on flying some important background information regarding this subject:
FFP2 masks are certified according to DIN EN 149. Only the NIOSH certified N95 masks in the USA are comparable, whereas many charlatans, e.g. from China, simply print N95 on their masks. According to Prof. Dr Frank Günther, head of hospital hygiene in Marburg/Germany, purchasing an N95 mask is a matter of luck. The only indication is a possible soft filter flow. The DIN-certified FFP2 masks must catch at least 94% of the particles in the air up to a size of 0.6 μm and may have a maximum of 11% leakage, i.e. only a maximum of 11% of the air inhaled may be breathed past the filter. These masks are in the main infection area, i.e. at a distance of 50 cm from the mouth, where the most concentrated aerosol formation occurs, and are 50 times more effective for protecting others and oneself than simple community masks (cotton single layer) and should be the standard for flying.
For my own protection, I fly only with FFP2 masks and always carry several of them with me to give them to my neighbours. This way I can reduce the risk of inhaling the air you exhale to 1% and be reasonably sure not to catch this often very serious virus because airlines fail completely concerning the safety measures for their passengers while fighting for survival. This can be seen by the fact that AIRBUS and Lufthansa continue to run their media on the net, which we have proved to be videos of lies. They have not been able to follow our requests for comments, which confirms their false statements in even greater depth.
In addition to the FFP2 mask, other self-protection recommendations can be made:
1. Turn off the air conditioning vent above you on the plane! It swirls convection air flows of your body (thermal) with the cold aircraft ventilation through the whole cabin. This statement can be substantiated with AIRBUS' own design documents. There, one is aware of the the considerable influence of passenger convection and has already worked on a much improved ventilation with DLR e.V. Be aware that aircraft ventilation is a a faulty design which violates the CS-25.831, because certification authorities (EASA, ICAO and IATA) fail worldwide, as already established by Professor of Aircraft Systems Engineering Dr Dieter Scholz and documented in January in front of my camera (see ARD Report Mainz: "Do toxic gases in aircraft harm personnel and passengers?) Aircraft ventilation has nothing to do with an operating room. The OR is a cleanroom of class 1a according to DIN. There are no standards at all for the quality of the air we breathe in the aircraft, it is only aimed at saving fuel and not at reducing health risks. The air exchange in the operating room is 10 times higher than in the cabin. Germs are displaced by laminar airflow, while aircraft ventilation only mixes germs and keeps them in the air much longer. The statements of many industrial lobbyists, such as Kirsten Winter (Lufthansa), Jean-Brice Dumont (AIRBUS) and Ralf Teckentrup (CEO Condor), that the air is completely exchanged in 2-3 minutes and that it is not distributed over the length of the aircraft, plus that the air quality is comparable to operating rooms’, are reckless and must be considered highly dangerous information for innocent lay-people(see: 3Sat nano: "Flying despite Corona?")!
2. Book a seat at the window and if possible in a back row. If you can, buy the middle seat to increase safety distances. As few passengers as possible should preferably sit as far away as possible. This will actively and significantly reduce your risk of infection. The engineer for aircraft systems technology Prof. Dr. Dieter Scholz from the HAW-Hamburg has calculated the risks and derived this recommendation. His elaborations are fully documented and publicly available on his website.
3. Stay in your seat during the entire flight to avoid air turbulence in the aisle. As Prof. Dr Qingyan Chen of Purdue University was able to show, the movements in the aisle of the aircraft contribute significantly to aerosol mixing in the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
4. Please always take care of your health! Covid-19 has been seriously underestimated by politicians and consulting virologists from the very beginning. Consequences of negligence are incalculable, the worldwide irrationality towards the disease leads to an ever-increasing spread. The serious and long-term secondary diseases in Covid-19 infected people are becoming increasingly clear and should be a reason to avoid unnecessary risks. Covid-19 has nothing to do with influenza and is not a lung disease. It is a multisystemic disease with many serious symptoms. The airplane is the decisive vehicle for the spread of the pandemic and, for globally networked humanity, the most dangerous means of mass transportation due to the lack of hygiene measures in the absence of adequate ventilation. Nevertheless, trains and public spaces with many people need your full attention in order to avoid worse.
Please accept my apologies for my heated letter, it has nothing to do with fear but is based on intense research and the respect derived from it. As a science journalist with a current focus on this disease, our health is of particular concern to me.
