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Air carrier captain reported a loss of pressurization.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1566266 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201803 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Pressurization System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 110 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 4000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
I was the pilot in command of aircraft X; on a flight from ZZZ to ZZZZ. The incident occurred just a few minutes after level off near [a major city]. The aircraft experienced a failure of the auto and standby pressurization system at FL350. The cabin altitude warning system activated. The flight engineer at the time was in the aircraft lavatory. I asked the first officer to open the cockpit door and tell the engineer that we were having a problem. When the first officer and flight engineer returned to their stations; I instructed them to put on their oxygen mask. My oxygen mask was already on. The cabin altitude continued to climb [past] 10;000 feet. The flight engineer; when I asked if we needed to descend; replied 'yes.' the cabin altitude was rising rather rapidly; and I am not sure exactly how high. We contacted ZZZ center and told them that we had a pressurization issue and needed to make an emergency descent to 9;000 feet. After reaching 9;000 feet; we contact our company on the satellite telephone and they instructed us to return to our departure airport ZZZ. It is not clear whether the manual mode was functioning properly at FL350. However; it did seem to function properly at 9;000 feet.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reported a loss of pressurization.
Narrative: I was the Pilot in Command of Aircraft X; on a flight from ZZZ to ZZZZ. The incident occurred just a few minutes after level off near [a major city]. The aircraft experienced a failure of the auto and standby pressurization system at FL350. The cabin altitude warning system activated. The Flight Engineer at the time was in the aircraft lavatory. I asked the First Officer to open the cockpit door and tell the engineer that we were having a problem. When the First Officer and Flight Engineer returned to their stations; I instructed them to put on their oxygen mask. My oxygen mask was already on. The cabin altitude continued to climb [past] 10;000 feet. The Flight Engineer; when I asked if we needed to descend; replied 'yes.' The cabin altitude was rising rather rapidly; and I am not sure exactly how high. We contacted ZZZ Center and told them that we had a pressurization issue and needed to make an emergency descent to 9;000 feet. After reaching 9;000 feet; we contact our company on the satellite telephone and they instructed us to return to our departure airport ZZZ. It is not clear whether the manual mode was functioning properly at FL350. However; it did seem to function properly at 9;000 feet.
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.