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ZMP controller reported working an aircraft making an emergency descent to 10;000 feet.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1461014 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201707 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZMP.ARTCC |
| State Reference | MN |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Enroute |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude |
Narrative:
Aircraft X came to me level at 35;000 feet. When aircraft X entered my sector he said he needed to descend to a lower altitude right now; and it sounded as if something was wrong. In my experience this is normally a pressurization issue. I looked at the underlying sector's traffic and saw one aircraft and no other traffic. I decided to turn aircraft X 15 degrees left to avoid that aircraft and gave him a descent to 24;000 feet. I yelled across to adjacent sectors and told them aircraft X needed an immediate descent and to turn their aircraft to the left. That sector turned their aircraft 30 degrees left.during this entire time aircraft X did not answer me and I believe he did not make the turn. But he did start descending. At this point I knew something was absolutely wrong because he was descending rapidly and he was not responding. Two minutes passed and I asked what the issue was and did not receive a response. I then asked if he wanted lower. He said yes; and I could hear he had his oxygen mask on. I gave aircraft X a descent to 10;000 feet and he responded with the correct read back.aircraft X then asked to divert. I gave the clearance and also asked for the nature of the emergency; people on board; and fuel remaining and did not receive a response. Aircraft X then asked to divert to a different airport at which point I gave him a clearance and a heading at his request. He then leveled at 10;000 feet and notified me his windshield had shattered and gave me the necessary emergency information to pass along.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ZMP Controller reported working an aircraft making an emergency descent to 10;000 feet.
Narrative: Aircraft X came to me level at 35;000 feet. When Aircraft X entered my sector he said he needed to descend to a lower altitude right now; and it sounded as if something was wrong. In my experience this is normally a pressurization issue. I looked at the underlying sector's traffic and saw one aircraft and no other traffic. I decided to turn Aircraft X 15 degrees left to avoid that aircraft and gave him a descent to 24;000 feet. I yelled across to adjacent sectors and told them Aircraft X needed an immediate descent and to turn their aircraft to the left. That sector turned their aircraft 30 degrees left.During this entire time Aircraft X did not answer me and I believe he did not make the turn. But he did start descending. At this point I knew something was absolutely wrong because he was descending rapidly and he was not responding. Two minutes passed and I asked what the issue was and did not receive a response. I then asked if he wanted lower. He said yes; and I could hear he had his oxygen mask on. I gave Aircraft X a descent to 10;000 feet and he responded with the correct read back.Aircraft X then asked to divert. I gave the clearance and also asked for the nature of the emergency; people on board; and fuel remaining and did not receive a response. Aircraft X then asked to divert to a different airport at which point I gave him a clearance and a heading at his request. He then leveled at 10;000 feet and notified me his windshield had shattered and gave me the necessary emergency information to pass along.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.