An A319 departed a high altitude airport and could not pressurize in the automatic mode but received...

Attributes
ACN	925636
Time
Date	201012
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pressurization Control System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

[We] departed toga; packs off; flaps 2. I was pilot flying; captain was pilot not flying. At thrust reduction altitude pack 1 was selected on; pack 1 was not working. Pack 2 was selected on; pack 2 was not working. The press page comes up on the lower ECAM advisory flashing as well. Cabin altitude was 9;350FT. The pilot not flying tries manual mode and it is not working either. We level off prior at 12;000 ft. The first altitude constraint on the departure is at or above 12;000 ft. ATC was informed that we needed to stay at 12;000 ft and hold somewhere to troubleshoot. ATC sends us to the departure airport VOR to hold at 12;000 ft. After the turn to the VOR the pilot not flying gets the manual mode working. We proceed to hold to burn off fuel; approximately an hour. We return to make a safe landing on the runway at a gross weight of 137;500. Pack 1 and pack 2 were selected on following normal SOP's. Manual mode was tried after failure of both packs. The lower ECAM also brought up the press page. No ECAM actions came up.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 departed a high altitude airport and could not pressurize in the AUTO Mode but received no ECAM alerts. The aircraft was ultimately pressurized in the Manual Mode but was returned to the departure airport where no discrepancies was discovered.

Narrative: [We] departed TOGA; Packs OFF; flaps 2. I was pilot flying; Captain was pilot not flying. At thrust reduction altitude Pack 1 was selected ON; Pack 1 was not working. Pack 2 was selected ON; Pack 2 was not working. The PRESS page comes up on the lower ECAM advisory flashing as well. Cabin altitude was 9;350FT. The pilot not flying tries Manual Mode and it is not working either. We level off prior at 12;000 FT. The first altitude constraint on the departure is at or above 12;000 FT. ATC was informed that we needed to stay at 12;000 FT and hold somewhere to troubleshoot. ATC sends us to the departure airport VOR to hold at 12;000 FT. After the turn to the VOR the pilot not flying gets the Manual Mode working. We proceed to hold to burn off fuel; approximately an hour. We return to make a safe landing on the runway at a gross weight of 137;500. Pack 1 and Pack 2 were selected ON following normal SOP's. Manual Mode was tried after failure of both Packs. The lower ECAM also brought up the PRESS page. No ECAM actions came up.

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.

An A319 departed a high altitude airport and could not pressurize in the automatic mode but received no ECAM alerts. The aircraft was ultimately pressurized in the manual mode but was returned to the departure airport where no discrepancies was discovered.