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Nippon Airways Boeing Loses AC and Cabin Pressure


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Contact Photographer Takashi

What: All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 767-300 en route from Matsuyama to Tokyo
Where: Tokyo’s Haneda airport
When: Thursday August 27
Who: 262 passengers and 8 crew
Why: The left hand air conditioning system failed shortly after takeoff. Then, while en route, cabin pressure dropped. At that point, oxygen masks deployed; the pilot descended 10,000 feet to normalize pressure and flew the last 45 minutes of the flight. Though some passengers felt ill, there were no injuries, and the plane landed normally.

George’s Point of View

That must have been a fun, white-knuckled flight, leaving terror-induced claw marks etched into the armrests.

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Jet 2 Diverts to Budapest


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Contact Photographer Sergio Domingos

What: jet2.com Boeing 757-200 en route from Tel Aviv Israel to Manchester
Where: Budapest (Hungary)
When: Aug 6th 2009
Who: 238 passengers
Why: Four hours into the flight, the flight developed pressurization problems. The pilot dropped altitude suddenly, described as experiencing turbulence and “plummeting thousands of feet.” Oxygen was deployed. The pilot made assurances, but of course the passengers were terrified.

The flight landed safely when it diverted to Budapest, and passengers were put up in a local hotel until a replacement flight was provided for them.

George’s Point of View

We need a better system to see turbulence in time to avoid it. Until we have it, airline operators are just going to need to accept the cost factor.

Going around turbulence is a fact of aviation, and avoiding turbulence is going to cost extra fuel. Sometimes you have to wonder if our present systems are working when flights are routed through known turbulence in order to avoid the expense of going around it. Those are the kind of foolish economical decisions made by those kinds of marginal airlines that are banned in the EU, and one of the reasons they are known to fall out of the sky.

At least our Jet 2 pilot here, had the skill to handle the situation, and a plane sturdy enough to withstand the pressures long enough to safeguard the lives of those aboard.

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Southwest Airlines: Hole in fuselage


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Contact Photographer Tim Perkins

What: Southwest Airlines 737 en route from Nashville to Baltimore
Where: Charleston’s Yeager Airport
When: 6:30 p.m Monday July 13
Who: 126 passengers and five crew
Why: While en route, the cabin depressurized when a hole (metal fatigue?) approximately the size of a football appeared in the fuselage. The plane managed to land safely in Charleston West Virginia. The NTSB is investigating.

(News photos don’t look football sized, but it is sure big enough to see plenty of daylight through.)

George’s Point of View

The 737 is a true workhorse, built to land and takeoff almost without too much delay except to load and unload passengers.

I fly Southwest to Las Vegas all the time. It’s a short hop.

I must admit, that every time I fly in one of these planes I have begun to worry about the age and/or the fatigue of the structure. A trip like one from LA to Vegas, most times, is a beating on the passengers and the plane itself. My guess is that 4 out of 5 of these short trips encounter turbulence, sometimes bad turbulence. This beats up the plane. In this case, the plane being beaten up was manufactured in 1994. That’s a lot of years of turbulence abuse. Metal fatigue in these conditions is not surprising, and neither is it completely unexpected. An inspection on this plane last January revealed eight cracks in the frame that required repairs.

I’m just glad it was a BOEING, and that the pilot remained in control of the aircraft. And of course, it’s a good thing that Southwest is now inspecting all of their planes for fatigue. Last year Southwest was fined $7.5 million for overdue inspections. I hope this is not going to be a repeat of last year. All the timely inspections in the world aren’t going to make this plane any younger. Maybe it’s time to put this particular plane out to pasture.

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Airbus out of London Depressurizes


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Contact Photographer Tommy Desmet

What: British Airways Airbus A319-100 en route from London Heathrow UK to Oslo Norway
Where: en route
When: Jun 27th 2009
Who: 70 passengers, 6 crew
Why: 40 minutes from London, the flight experienced a loss of cabin pressure, so they turned back and made a safe landing. British Airways rebooked the passengers for a flight Sunday and provided hotel accommodations.

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Korean Airbus Loses Pressure


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Contact Photographer Frank Schaefer

What: Korean Airlines Airbus A300-600 en route from Jeju South Korea to Nagoya Japan
Where: Nagoya
When: Jun 23rd
Who: 164 on board
Why: The plane lost cabin pressure 40 minutes prior to landing. The pilot took the plane to a lower altitude, and oxygen masks were dispensed. The plane landed safely, with no injuries. Investigation regarding the pressure loss is ongoing.

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Southwest Emergency Landing


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Contact Photographer Manas Barooah

What: Southwest Airlines Flight 1040 Boeing 737-500 en route from Chicago to Fort Myers
Where: Columbus, Ga
When: Jun 14th 2009
Who: 122 people on board
Why: Over Columbus, the plane experienced low cabin pressure and performed an emergency landing. 5 hours later, the replacement Boeing picked up the stranded passengers and continued the flight. Maintenance did not release a public report of what caused the low cabin pressure, but if they tell me why, you’ll be the first to know.

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Canadair Jet Cockpit Side-Window Shatters in Flight

What: British Air on behalf of Air France Canadair CRJ-100 en route from from Barcelona to Paris
Where: 15 passengers
When: May 26th 2009
Who: 15 passengers
Why: Near Limoges, the right cockpit window shattered, causing the plane to experience sudden decompression. the plane landed safely at Limoges. Cockpit crew had some injuries from flying glass.

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Depressurized Airbus Lands in London


Contact photographer Bruce Leibowitz
What: Turkish Airlines Airbus A340-300, en route from New York JFK,NY to Istanbul Ataturk
Where: divert to London Heathrow
When: Apr 16th 2009 6:30 local
Who: 185 passengers and 15 crew
Why: The cabin depressurized en route, and the flight was diverted to Heathrow for a safe landing. Although passengers experienced shortness of breath and ear pain, oxygen masks never did deploy.

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Boeing Depressurizes over Moscow


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Contact photographer Oleg Revin
What: Yakutia Airlines Boeing 757 en route from Vnukovo airport to Yakutsk.
Where: Vnukovo airport in the Russian capital of Moscow
When: Apr 7th 2009
Who: 174 passengers and nine crew members
Why: After takeoff, the pilot experienced technical problems. The cabin depressurized; and the pilot decided to return to the airport of origin to land; however, before landing, the plane circled the airport for three and a half hours to burn off excess fuel.

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Emergency Landing in Omaha

What: American Airlines en-route from Las Vegas to Chicago
Where: Eppley Airfield
When: ten o’clock on Monday night
Who: 140 passengers and five crew members
Why: Near Omaha, the plane lost cabin pressure. The pilot coped by dropping oxygen masks and dropping altitude from 25,000 feet to 14,000 feet. At Eppley, the passengers debarked, and took another flight to Chicago provided to them by American Airlines.

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Cabin Pressure Issue on Boeing 757


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Contact photographer Michael Brazier
What: Boeing 757-200, G-LSAA operating a Charter flight LS2113 en route from Manchester Airport to Taba, Egypt
Where: Athens
When: Monday afternoon Mar 2 at 3:40 p.m
Who: about 192 passengers
Why: The flight made “a controlled, rapid descent” when the pilot noted a problem with the cabin air pressure. About half a dozen passengers–including a child–were taken for medical evaluation. A Boeing 757-200, G-LSAH from Manchester was sent to pick up the marooned travelers.

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US Airways 757 Emergency Landing in Wilmington


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Contact photographer John E. Jauchler – New England Airports
What: U.S. Airways flight HP-9226, a 757 registration N934UW en route from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia
Where: Wilmington’s International Airport
When: 6:00 Feb 20, 2009
Who: 190 passengers and 6 crew
Why: Less than an hour into the flight, the plane lost pressure in its cabin, and the pilot made an emergency landing at ILM. Passengers were flown the rest of the way on a Airbus A321-200 which collected them after nearly a 6 hour delay.

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Northwest Emergency Landing at Indianapolis

What: Pinnacle Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of Northwest Airlines, flight 9E-2515/NW-2515 from Oklahoma City,OK to Detroit,MI
Where: Indianapolis
When: Tuesday (3 minutes later)
Who: 26 passengers on board
Why: When cabin pressure problems were indicated (possibly originating with the seal around the aircraft’s windshield) the plane had to proceed with an emergency landing at the Indianapolis airport, where the plane taxied to the gate and were able to disembark normally.

What: Pinnacle Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of Northwest Airlines, flight 9E-2544/NW-2544 from Detroit,MI to St. Louis,MO
Where: Indianapolis
When: Tuesday (3 minutes earlier)
Who: 18 passengers on board
Why: Flight diverted when the window developed a crack

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Helios Boeing Crash


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Contact photographer Savvas Petoussis

What: Helios Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Larnaka Airport to Ruzyn? International Airport
Where: Marathon, Greece
When: August 14, 2005
Who: 115 passengers and 6 crew
Why: Before take-off the crew failed to set the pressurisation system to “Auto,” which is contrary to standard Boeing procedures. Minutes after take-off the cabin altitude horn activated as a result of pressurization. It was, however, misidentified by the crew as a take-off configuration warning, On August 14, 2005, a Helios Airline Boeing 737-300, registered in Cyprus as 5B-DBY crashed into rolling terrain north northeast of Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (LGAV), Athens, Greece. The nearest town to the crash site was Gramitikos, Greece. The aircraft had departed Larnaka Airport, Cyprus, two hours and 57 minutes prior to the accident.

The NTSB team joined investigators from the Greek Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board, the Boeing Company, and CFM, the aircraft’s engine manufacturer. The crash was caused by pilot incapacitation due to hypoxia brought about by depressurization, leading to fuel starvation. 121 died in the crash.