High altitude ops
Hi folks,
I passed through Cuzco, Peru as a passenger on a LAN A319 last week and, given the airfield's high elevation (3,825 metres above sea level) I was kind of curious about a couple of aspects of the aircraft's operation (I saw the performance during two missed approaches). I was hoping someone on the forum could satisfy my curiosity;
1. Cabin altitude.
I dimly remember from my dispatch license training that cabin altitude is typically in the range from 6,000 to 7,000 ft. I also seem to remember that if cabin altitude rose over 10,000 ft the passenger oxygen masks would deploy. How do you get around this, landing at an airfield at 12,500 ft elevation? On an aircraft as complex as an A319 I can't imagine it's a simple as pulling the breaker? Performance aside, are there any other complications associated with configuring the aircraft to land that high?
2. Crew performance
Even after several days' acclimatising on the Andean highlands, I never really felt 100% fit at high altitude. How do the crew cope? Would the cockpit crew wear masks?
Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed on these questions.