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An unidentified air carrier aircraft suffered a malfunctioning pressurization system allowing the cabin to climb to 14;500 ft while the flight crew conducted an emergency descent. The flight diverted and landed safely.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 921789 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201011 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| 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 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Pressurization Control System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 7700 Flight Crew Type 6500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
We were at FL380; seat-belt sign off; and a cabin altitude of approximately 6;000 ft when the pressurization had a rate of climb increase to approximately 1;500 FPM and climbed the cabin altitude to 6;100 ft. This lasted approximately 15-30 seconds. The pressure bump came back down to zero and the cabin altitude returned to 6;000 ft. Then; less than a minute later; the same scenario recurred.the captain and I agreed this was not normal and started discussing a descent. Less than 30 seconds after the second event the cabin rate of climb increased beyond 1;500 FPM and continued to climb. The captain requested initially FL340 to see if it would improve the situation; it did not. The cabin altitude continued to climb and the captain and I agreed to an emergency descent. The captain declared an emergency and the emergency descent was initiated. FL240 was issued from ATC and eventually 11;000 ft.on the descent; the cabin altitude climbed and limited at 14;500 ft. Upon reaching the high teens; the cabin started to descend below 14;500 and eventually started to work normally. We diverted to a nearby airport and landed with crash fire rescue equipment following us to the gate in case of injuries (no injuries reported) and completed the flight.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An unidentified air carrier aircraft suffered a malfunctioning pressurization system allowing the cabin to climb to 14;500 FT while the flight crew conducted an emergency descent. The flight diverted and landed safely.
Narrative: We were at FL380; seat-belt sign off; and a cabin altitude of approximately 6;000 FT when the pressurization had a rate of climb increase to approximately 1;500 FPM and climbed the cabin altitude to 6;100 FT. This lasted approximately 15-30 seconds. The pressure bump came back down to zero and the cabin altitude returned to 6;000 FT. Then; less than a minute later; the same scenario recurred.The Captain and I agreed this was not normal and started discussing a descent. Less than 30 seconds after the second event the cabin rate of climb increased beyond 1;500 FPM and continued to climb. The Captain requested initially FL340 to see if it would improve the situation; it did not. The cabin altitude continued to climb and the Captain and I agreed to an emergency descent. The Captain declared an emergency and the emergency descent was initiated. FL240 was issued from ATC and eventually 11;000 FT.On the descent; the cabin altitude climbed and limited at 14;500 FT. Upon reaching the high teens; the cabin started to descend below 14;500 and eventually started to work normally. We diverted to a nearby airport and landed with CFR following us to the gate in case of injuries (no injuries reported) and completed the flight.
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.