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A B737-500 flight crew experienced loss of cabin pressure; executed an emergency descent; and diverted to a nearby airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 843569 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200907 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-500 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Pressurization System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 217 Flight Crew Type 1100 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
Enroute at 36;000 ft our cabin altitude warning horn activated. We both looked up to find the cabin at 10;500 ft with the cabin climbing at 1000 FPM. We donned our O2 masks and established communication. The decision was made to start an emergency descent and divert. We had a jumpseater that was able to help with checklist items and getting our charts out. As we started down; the captain switched the packs to high. Later in the descent the cabin stabilized at around 10;000 ft and indicated a 500 FPM descent. In the descent we had to deviate around a few rain showers and got struck by lightning. Captain was busy talking with the flight attendant's; dispatch; ATC; and the passengers. We were very happy to have a jumpseater (company first officer) to help. Training really took over and we just handled the situation. Later we thought about the situation and decided that we had no time to troubleshoot and took the safest course of action. Aircraft had previous write-ups for pressurization problems.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-500 flight crew experienced loss of cabin pressure; executed an emergency descent; and diverted to a nearby airport.
Narrative: Enroute at 36;000 FT our cabin altitude warning horn activated. We both looked up to find the cabin at 10;500 FT with the cabin climbing at 1000 FPM. We donned our O2 masks and established communication. The decision was made to start an emergency descent and divert. We had a jumpseater that was able to help with checklist items and getting our charts out. As we started down; the Captain switched the packs to high. Later in the descent the cabin stabilized at around 10;000 FT and indicated a 500 FPM descent. In the descent we had to deviate around a few rain showers and got struck by lightning. Captain was busy talking with the flight attendant's; Dispatch; ATC; and the passengers. We were very happy to have a jumpseater (Company First Officer) to help. Training really took over and we just handled the situation. Later we thought about the situation and decided that we had no time to troubleshoot and took the safest course of action. Aircraft had previous write-ups for pressurization problems.
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.