Loss of cabin pressure account door seal tear. Descent to lower altitude.

Attributes
ACN	263569
Time
Date	199402
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : grr
State Reference	MI
Altitude	msl bound lower : 10000 msl bound upper : 26000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zob
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	cruise other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 180 flight time total : 8000 flight time type : 2900
ASRS Report	263569
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : flight engineer
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 250 flight time total : 13000 flight time type : 650
ASRS Report	263082
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : unspecified
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Cruising at FL260, received an alert for 'excessive cabin altitude.' donned oxygen and requested 10000 ft from center. Explained we hade a pressurization problem. Center cleared us to FL240, and told to standby for lower. The aircraft was descending through approximately FL236 when our controller cleared us to lower altitude. No emergency was declared. In the future, declaring an emergency will be a top priority to underscore the need to descend rapidly without intermediate level offs and enable the cockpit crew to dictate events to ATC, instead of vice versa. Supplemental information from acn 263082: proceeded to grr. Maintenance found a tear in door seal. Suspect a very slow leak. May have initiated descent a little prior to lower clearance, but I do remember briefly considering squawking emergency to get down.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LOSS OF CABIN PRESSURE ACCOUNT DOOR SEAL TEAR. DSCNT TO LOWER ALT.

Narrative: CRUISING AT FL260, RECEIVED AN ALERT FOR 'EXCESSIVE CABIN ALT.' DONNED OXYGEN AND REQUESTED 10000 FT FROM CTR. EXPLAINED WE HADE A PRESSURIZATION PROB. CTR CLRED US TO FL240, AND TOLD TO STANDBY FOR LOWER. THE ACFT WAS DSNDING THROUGH APPROX FL236 WHEN OUR CTLR CLRED US TO LOWER ALT. NO EMER WAS DECLARED. IN THE FUTURE, DECLARING AN EMER WILL BE A TOP PRIORITY TO UNDERSCORE THE NEED TO DSND RAPIDLY WITHOUT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL OFFS AND ENABLE THE COCKPIT CREW TO DICTATE EVENTS TO ATC, INSTEAD OF VICE VERSA. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 263082: PROCEEDED TO GRR. MAINT FOUND A TEAR IN DOOR SEAL. SUSPECT A VERY SLOW LEAK. MAY HAVE INITIATED DSCNT A LITTLE PRIOR TO LOWER CLRNC, BUT I DO REMEMBER BRIEFLY CONSIDERING SQUAWKING EMER TO GET DOWN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.