Everybody Flies

Everybody Flies

Directed by Tristan Loraine, Beth Moran. Cast: Tristan Loraine, Beth Moran, Vivienne Young

Ex BA Captain and now filmmaker, Tristan Loraine gives an in-depth insight (18 years worth of research ) into the world of aviation as he investigates the claim that the air we breathe on a plane can actually be dangerous. A pollutant called tricresyl phosphate (TCP), which is present in the oil used in plane engines, apparently can leak into cabin air supplies and it can lead to serious damage and even cause cancer. This is pretty explosive stuff and one wonders why this isn’t talked more about. It’s all very throughly researched stuff, clearly explained and laid out, with some good interviews from insiders (thought interestingly all the major airplane companies have refused to take part or to comment), but despite containing some truly terrifying claims and information, I felt it never really hit me as it should have. It was all a bit too tame. As a documentary itself, I thought it did pretty much run out of new things to say after about 20 minutes and the rest was just a confirmation what I had heard previously heard. Also I have to say I found the editing a bit slow and pedestrian (I hated the way the commentary was coming in, with the lowering of the sync sound and a long delay of what felt like at least 3 seconds of silence).

Bit aside from this little technical details, I really felt this should have really been a much more “angry” piece of film-making. Dare-I-say, it needed a Michael Moore type of person to expose the scandal!