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A320 captain is dispatched with one pack on MEL and discovers the second pack is not able to maintain pressurization passing through FL290. At 15000 feet over mountainous terrain the cabin is still climbing and the captain elects to turn on the deferred pack. This act is successful but the crew elects to return to departure airport after declaring an emergency.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 928190 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201101 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Air Conditioning and Pressurization Pack |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Engineer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 4000 Flight Crew Type 200 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
Dispatched with pack 1 inoperative. Climbing through FL290 notice cabin alt was climbing through 9k at a rate of approx 1k/min. Coordinate an immediate descent with ATC to 15K (we were over the mountains; scattered deck below). As we were descending; cabin continued to climb. With cabin alt passing approx 9.7k; capt decided to turn pack 1 on. That worked and the cabin stopped climbing and started descending. We leveled at 25k and cabin alt stabilized in normal range. Capt called dispatch/maintenance and coordinated return to base. We declared an emergency and returned to base at 25K with both packs on. Return to base was uneventful.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A320 Captain is dispatched with one pack on MEL and discovers the second pack is not able to maintain pressurization passing through FL290. At 15000 feet over mountainous terrain the cabin is still climbing and the Captain elects to turn on the deferred pack. This act is successful but the crew elects to return to departure airport after declaring an emergency.
Narrative: Dispatched with pack 1 INOP. Climbing through FL290 notice cabin alt was climbing through 9k at a rate of approx 1k/min. Coordinate an immediate descent with ATC to 15K (we were over the mountains; scattered deck below). As we were descending; cabin continued to climb. With cabin alt passing approx 9.7k; capt decided to turn pack 1 ON. That worked and the cabin stopped climbing and started descending. We leveled at 25k and cabin alt stabilized in normal range. Capt called Dispatch/Maintenance and coordinated Return to base. We declared an emergency and Returned to Base at 25K with both packs ON. Return to base was uneventful.
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.