What is bleed air?
Hot, compressed air drawn from an engine before combustion and conditioned for use inside the aircraft.
AIRCRAFT BLEED AIR · CABIN & COCKPIT AIR QUALITY
Tracking progress in cockpit air monitoring.
A plain-language review of aircraft bleed air, smoke and fume events, air-monitoring technology, research, and public policy.
One pilot left questions. One friend made a promise. Created by author Alan Olsen in memory of Captain Dan Omerza.
THE QUESTIONWHY?WHY DON'T WE MEASURE?
FIND · VERIFY · EXPLAIN · SOURCE
CHOOSE A STARTING POINT
Find what you came for.
No technical background is required.
START HERE
Plain-language overview
What bleed air is, what an event is, and why measurement matters.
Understand the issue →LATEST STATUSSemiannual review
See the subjects now being examined.
Check status →AVIATION & TECHNICALTechnology tracker
See the difference between discussion, testing, and deployment.
Open tracker →PRACTICAL NEXT STEPCitizen's blueprint
A starting-point proposal for qualified institutions.
Read blueprint →
WHY THIS EXISTS
Captain Dan Omerza
Marine pilot · Airline captain · Husband · Father · Friend
Dan spent a lifetime earning the trust of everyone who stepped aboard his aircraft.
He flew approximately 20,000 hours and made his final 747 landing in Las Vegas at age 68. His friendship with Alan—and the questions left after Dan's death—became the reason for this public-information project.
Dan lived with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), meaning its cause was unknown. This site does not claim that bleed-air exposure caused his illness.
“One pilot left questions. One friend made a promise.”Why don't we monitor the air pilots, crews, and passengers breathe?
PLAIN-LANGUAGE OVERVIEW
Three things to know.
Most jet aircraft use compressed engine air—called bleed air—to help pressurize and ventilate the cockpit and cabin.
What is an event?
A reported smoke, unusual odor, or fume occurrence in the cockpit or cabin. Causes and severity can vary.
Why measure it?
Contemporaneous measurements could help identify what happened, guide investigation, and support better-informed decisions.
Monitor Bleed Air reviews credible public information and clearly separates evidence, proposals, and unanswered questions.
LATEST SEMIANNUAL REVIEW
The first public-record review is being prepared.
It will report material developments, supporting sources, and unresolved questions.
Technology & sensors
Detection capabilities, prototypes, trials, and operational systems.
Research & standards
Peer-reviewed work, technical reports, and measurement standards.
FAA, DOT & aviation
Official activity, industry initiatives, and documented outcomes.
TECHNOLOGY TRACKER
Discussion is not deployment.
The tracker distinguishes research, proposals, prototypes, standards, testing, and systems actually deployed on aircraft.
Initial review in process
Entries will be included when they are publicly traceable and can be classified from reliable evidence.
Classification ladder
Discussed
A concept, recommendation, paper, or proposal.
Researched or tested
Laboratory work, a prototype, trial, or evaluation.
Standards or regulatory work
A documented standard, guidance action, rulemaking, or certification step.
Operational deployment
A system reliably documented as installed and used on aircraft.
A CITIZEN'S POLICY BLUEPRINT
Start practical. Learn. Improve.
Qualified scientific, aviation, engineering, and regulatory institutions—not Alan Olsen or this website—would determine any actual standards or specifications.
Do not let the perfect monitor prevent the first useful monitor.
Establish a reasonable starting point, test it responsibly, learn from the results, and improve.
- 01
Define
Agree on the question a first monitor should help answer.
- 02
Evaluate
Assess available monitoring capability and its limitations.
- 03
Test
Conduct an appropriately designed research trial.
- 04
Learn
Review the evidence and publish the limitations.
- 05
Improve
Use what was learned to guide the next generation.
ABOUT & LIMITS
Independent public information.
Monitor Bleed Air is an independent public-information project created by author Alan Olsen. It organizes and explains publicly available information about aircraft cabin and cockpit air quality, bleed-air events, monitoring technology, research, and regulatory developments.
The site does not conduct scientific testing, certify or rate equipment, provide professional advice, or represent an aviation organization. Readers should consult original sources and qualified professionals.
FOUNDATIONAL SOURCES
Begin with the original record.
A short starting set for understanding the issue. The complete retained collection is available in the Research Library.
THE STORY BEHIND THE QUESTION
Bleed Air
A Promise Worth Finishing
A fact-inspired investigative thriller about friendship, integrity, and the courage to keep asking difficult questions.
Bleed Air is fiction; Monitor Bleed Air is a separate factual public-information project. Neither the novel nor this site claims scientific or medical causation.
Visit Alan Olsen's author site at 80LastActs.com ↗