

United, American airlines jets found to be OK

testing done as cautionary measure

March 17, 2011|By Julie Johnsson, Tribune reporter

Federal officials found traces of radiation on United and American airlines jets that arrived Wednesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Tokyo and later determined that the planes' cargo and passengers were not at risk.

But those false alarms signaled that officials are concerned about the effects of radiation spewing into the atmosphere from Japan's crippled nuclear reactors. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, operated by the Department of Homeland Security, said it had begun testing airline and maritime traffic for radiation contamination "out of an abundance of caution."

Radiation is a common a side effect of flying. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates an airline passenger flying cross country receives 2 to 5 millirems of radiation, about half the dose of a typical a chest X-ray, because high altitudes increase exposure to cosmic rays.

Still, U.S. airlines and government officials are paying close attention to the radiation plume spreading over the Pacific that, according to reports, could reach the U.S. by Friday. Officials are sweeping surfaces of Japan-based aircraft and cargo holds for possible contamination that could injure workers or travelers.

Traces of radiation turned up in cargo containers on two flights that landed Wednesday at O'Hare from Tokyo's Narita International Airport and an additional flight operated by American Airlines into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Officials quickly determined that the packages were safe, sources said. "To our knowledge no United passenger or passenger luggage has tested positive for elevated levels of radiation," said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based United.

On the two American flights, the isotope discovered was likely emitted by medical devices, which the carrier was shipping. The jets were quickly returned to service, said Tim Smith, spokesman for the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier.

"We've said all along that we're monitoring every possible aspect of the Japan operation," Smith added.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley acknowledged Thursday that inbound flights from Tokyo had set off radiation detectors at O'Hare, but he offered no details and said federal officials were handling the situation.

"Of course the protection of the person coming off the plane is very important in regards to any radiation, especially within their families and anything else," Daley said at a news conference to discuss his trip to China this week.

Airborne nuclear waste is just the latest hazard for an industry trained to expect the unexpected. The Federal Aviation Administration works with other government agencies to alter flight paths during sun spots and other solar events, officials said, to lower the potential dose to passengers.

Maps used to guide aircraft around hazards like storms and active volcanoes on the North Pacific now carry a red radioactive sign to denote a no-fly zone over the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors. Flight dispatchers Thursday were also given the coordinates of an area over the Pacific where airborne concentrations are of greatest concern, sources told the Tribune.

"Upper air forecasts are pretty good," said aviation consultant Robert Mann. "As long as you know what to look for, you can forecast where the stuff is going to go."

Mann was an executive at Pan American World Airways when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in 1986. Soviet officials didn't alert the world to the crisis and a Pan Am jet unwittingly flew through the fallout zone on a flight marking the resumption of air service between the U.S. and Soviet Union. "Nobody knew it was there at the time," Mann said. "The information was so poor."

Radioactive materials have long been a concern for U.S. customs officials. They routinely screen overseas flights and passengers for radioactive materials that pose potential security risks, scanning more than half a million flights for nuclear materials in 2010, said an airline official who had been briefed on the initiative.

Front-line personnel also carry small personal radiation detectors that can sniff out radiological materials without attracting passenger attention. U.S. airports are equipped with more-sensitive devices that can determine the presence and type of radiation encountered, said U.S. Customs.

Federal officials provided few details about the hazards they were trying to detect in wake of the disaster in Japan.

"No aircraft entering the United States (Wednesday) tested positive for radiation at harmful levels," U.S. Customs said in a statement.

The airline source briefed on Wednesday's screenings said that the highest reading on any flight from Japan on Wednesday was roughly equivalent to one hour of commercial flight.

The 3-millirem exposure typical for a transcontinental flight carries the same chance of death — 1 in a million — as breathing New York City's air for two days, riding 1 mile on a motorcycle or 300 miles in a car, eating 10 charbroiled steaks or smoking one cigarette, according to the EPA.

The radiation alert in Chicago and Dallas was first reported by the New York Post.

Tribune reporters Jon Hilkevitch and John Byrne contributed.

Radiation exposure

Cross-country flight: 2 to 5 millirems

Chest X-ray: 8 millirems

Dental X-ray: 40 millirems

Airport backscatter imaging technology: less than 10 microrems

Total average annual exposure, U.S. resident: 360 millirems