The Civil Aviation Safety Authority yesterday said it had
      no plans to widen the space between Australian aircraft
      seats despite international calls for more room after the 
      blood-clot death of a young passenger.

      Briton Emma Christoffersen, 28, who had been visiting 
      Australia for the Olympics, collapsed minutes after getting
      off a 20-hour Sydney-to-London flight.

      The death of the apparently healthy bride-to-be has sparked
      international pressure on the airline industry to improve 
      health and safety conditions for air travellers.

      Britain's Civil Aviation Authority has said it might call 
      for new regulations for minimum seat spacing on aircraft,
      which could affect all European airlines.

      The Australian authority said Australian jets were governed
      by rules that certified the maximum number of passengers to
      be carried, which dictated seating configuration.

      The smallest amount of leg room on Australian planes is about
      80 centimetres, as opposed to Britain where the minimum amount
      of leg room is 66 centimetres.

      A CASA spokesman said the British regulations were possibly
      unique in world aviation and in place to control the large 
      number of charter operators flying from Britain to the
      continent who tried to pack on as many passengers as possible.

      Medical experts say cramped seating is a leading cause of
      deep vein thrombosis, or "economy class syndrome," a blood
      clot which forms in a vein, usually in a leg.

      "We'll certainly look at what the British are doing with
      interest and if it's relevant, we'll make sure we're aware of
      it," the CASA spokesman said.

      "But there's no indication that there is a really pressing 
      problem (with deep vein thrombosis)," he said.

      An autopsy determined that a clot that had shifted into Ms 
      Christoffersen's brain caused her death after she disembarked
      from a Qantas Airways flight on September 30.

      The director of the British Aviation Health Institute,
      Farrol Kahn, said as well as cramped seating on long-haul 
      flights, breathing in dry, recirculated air made the blood 
      stickier and likely to coagulate.

      Mr Kahn said deep vein thrombosis could strike several weeks,
      "even a month", after a flight.

      That was why so many cases seemed to happen out of the blue 
      or doctors were at a loss to accurately diagnose and treat
      patients complaining of sore feet or swollen ankles, he said.

      Gabrielle McMullin, a venous disease researcher and surgeon 
      at Sydney's Sutherland Hospital, said airlines should print
      warnings about the dangers of the condition on tickets.

      She recommended that passengers wear compression stockings
      when going on long flights. She said the condition was often
      misdiagnosed as a pulled leg muscle.

      The CASA spokesman said passengers who thought they might 
      have a problem with deep-vein thrombosis should consult their
      GP before flying and take simple precautions such as drinking
      lots of water and stretching and walking around during flights.
      Health experts also recommend the use of aspirin to thin the
      blood.

      Those most at risk are elderly people, women who are pregnant
      or take the pill, and people with a history of varicose veins,
      cancer or obesity.

      A Qantas spokeswoman said passenger information warned of the
      need to keep blood circulating with foot exercises.

      She said exercises were available on an audio channel and a 
      passenger video that went into the issue in more depth was in
      production.
 
      "No plans for more leg room"
                                                                        
      By LYALL JOHNSON
      CONSUMER AFFAIRS REPORTER
      Thursday 26 October 2000
  
      http://www.theage.com.au/news/20001026/A7605-2000Oct25.html

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      "Perceptions" note:

      You've seen that each of the persons quoted has an interest to
      protect and that they've come together with a group "explanation"
      for flight trauma.

      That is - cramped seating, dry air, medical conditions etc., all
      supposedly leading to "DVTs"

      Then why should it be - as we publicly warned, sadly just before
      Emma Christoffersen's death - that certain (long-haul) flights
      spanning local night-time [2000-0400 local] are more harmful ?  

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      Evidence page for
      http://www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/fertility.html#caution

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