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Boeing 737 flight crew reported difficulty maintaining proper cabin pressure; they stabilized the cabin pressure by reverting to manual control; and a decision was made to divert due to passengers discomfort.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1520222 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201802 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Pressurization Control System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 326 Flight Crew Type 7000 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 262 Flight Crew Type 262 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness |
Narrative:
While at cruise at FL380; the pressurization warning horn came on. The cabin altitude had climbed to 10;100 feet MSL. We initiated the qrc; and with the selector in manual; the cabin continued to slowly climb. We started an emergency descent and as we descended through about FL250; the cabin altitude started to descend. We had notified center of the emergency. We continued down to 10;000 feet MSL and diverted to an airport which was about 200 NM away. We were VFR the whole time. Next; we realized we would be overweight or have to hold at the airport. We talked to the flight attendants to brief and check on them and the passengers. They said a few passengers were complaining about their ears and some felt light headed. Since the cabin was at 5000 feet MSL; we chose not to deploy the masks and asked them to use the portable oxygen if needed. After a public address from the flight deck and flight attendants; the passenger seemed fine except for some isolated ear issues. We chose to land overweight after running the performance data because of the passenger discomfort reported. We continued onto the airport at 10;000 feet MSL and did a visual RNAV landing to the runway. It was on overweight at 133;900 pounds. Crash fire rescue and EMS met the aircraft. One passenger asked to see the EMS about her ears. The first officer and flight attendants handled all issues very professionally.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Boeing 737 flight crew reported difficulty maintaining proper cabin pressure; they stabilized the cabin pressure by reverting to manual control; and a decision was made to divert due to passengers discomfort.
Narrative: While at cruise at FL380; the Pressurization Warning horn came on. The cabin altitude had climbed to 10;100 feet MSL. We initiated the QRC; and with the selector in manual; the cabin continued to slowly climb. We started an emergency descent and as we descended through about FL250; the Cabin Altitude started to descend. We had notified Center of the Emergency. We continued down to 10;000 feet MSL and diverted to an Airport which was about 200 NM away. We were VFR the whole time. Next; we realized we would be overweight or have to hold at the Airport. We talked to the Flight Attendants to brief and check on them and the Passengers. They said a few Passengers were complaining about their ears and some felt light headed. Since the cabin was at 5000 feet MSL; we chose not to deploy the masks and asked them to use the portable Oxygen if needed. After a Public Address from the flight deck and Flight Attendants; the Passenger seemed fine except for some isolated ear issues. We chose to land overweight after running the Performance data because of the Passenger discomfort reported. We continued onto the Airport at 10;000 feet MSL and did a visual RNAV landing to the Runway. It was on overweight at 133;900 pounds. Crash Fire Rescue and EMS met the aircraft. One Passenger asked to see the EMS about her ears. The First Officer and Flight Attendants handled all issues very professionally.
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.