During boarding; an A319 flight attendant notified the captain of a dirty sock smell so the APU air ...

Attributes
ACN	980950
Time
Date	201111
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

While boarding with the APU running and the packs on the flight attendants called to let us know that a bad odor was in the cabin. They said that it smelled like dirty socks. Within minutes we could also smell it in the cockpit. We shut off the APU air and called the mchanic. We immediately stopped boarding and deplaned the passengers that had boarded. The mechanic said that he could smell it on the jetway even before he was on the airplane. There was a heavy rain shower while this all was happening. As far as I know; no one asked for medical treatment. Cause: APU? Packs? Rain? I'm not sure why it occurred.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During boarding; an A319 Flight Attendant notified the Captain of a dirty sock smell so the APU air was shutdown; the passengers removed and the flight canceled.

Narrative: While boarding with the APU running and the Packs on the Flight Attendants called to let us know that a bad odor was in the cabin. They said that it smelled like dirty socks. Within minutes we could also smell it in the cockpit. We shut off the APU air and called the Mchanic. We immediately stopped boarding and deplaned the passengers that had boarded. The Mechanic said that he could smell it on the jetway even before he was on the airplane. There was a heavy rain shower while this all was happening. As far as I know; no one asked for medical treatment. Cause: APU? Packs? Rain? I'm not sure why it occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

During boarding; an A319 flight attendant notified the captain of a dirty sock smell so the APU air was shutdown; the passengers removed and the flight canceled.