LBA bound Astraeus 737 diverts with 'pressurisation' problem

[timmcat]

Local TV news here just reported that Mahon - Leeds flight diverted to 'Northern France' after crew donned masks at FL360, followed by full rubber jungle in cabin. Landed safely.

[Unwell_Raptor]

Er - was Mahon the airport of origin or does it refer to something or someone else?

[oozily]

I assumed he meant John Mahon the Astraeus pilot.

edit: being dumb, flight came from Mahon.

[Jonathan Hinkles]

PRESS STATEMENT

Friday 19 August, 19:30 hrs UK local time

Flight AEU952 Mahon to Leeds Bradford


An Astraeus aircraft operating flight AEU952 from Mahon to Leeds Bradford has landed safely at Brest Airfield in north-west France after experiencing an in-flight technical problem.

The Boeing 737-300 aircraft, with 140 passengers, four infants and six crew members aboard, was cruising at its normal altitude of 36,000ft when the two pilots were alerted by means of the aircraft’s automated warning system to a technical problem within the aircraft’s pressurisation system.

Routine emergency drills – practised in frequent training – were followed in full by the flight crew. This included donning their own oxygen masks as the pressurisation in the cabin fell and a rapid descent was initiated. At that time, the aircraft was 60 km to the west of Brest and so the decision was taken to make a precautionary landing at Brest. During this time, as the cabin pressure levels fell, the passenger oxygen masks automatically deployed and passengers were directed by the cabin crew to use their oxygen masks.

The aircraft landed safely at Brest at 19:30 hrs French local time (18:30 hrs UK local time). A replacement Astraeus aircraft is being flown to Brest as soon as possible this evening to collect passengers and continue their journey to Leeds Bradford. The original aircraft will remain at Brest until further notice whilst a full engineering examination is carried out.

[BombardierCR7]

I dare say had the Hellios accident not occured, then this incident wouldn't have raised an eyebrow!

But, I am impressed to see that an airline is professional enough to issue a press release shortly after the incident clearly stating the events that took place.

[GrahamK]

As a passenger it is slightly worrying to read about these incidents especially after the Helios 737-300 tragedy. However, I know Astraeus have a great team so any problems will be quickly solved.

[Bearcat]

heard them diverting last night...we were nortbound....very prof radio work....well done guys.....

[Leodis]

BombardierCR7: I am impressed to see that an airline is professional enough to issue a press release shortly after the incident clearly stating the events that took place.

Having known JH for some years, I wouldn't expect anything else other than the professionalism he has shown.

Eat your heart out WHG??:D

[Safety's No Accident]

Well done guys - and SDM, if you read this, I'd have expected nothing less mate ! :ok:

[NEW-CREW]

Just thought id say well done to the crew and everyone else involved in the incident. I work for Astraeus and have nothing but praise for the crew involved and just proves how good the training is and how well prepared the crew were. Good Stuff!!!!:ok:

[Jordan D]

BBC News story, fashioned more or less from Press statement above, is viewable here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4167950.stm)

Well done to all involved for getting it on the ground in one piece.

Jordan

[sikeano]

well done chaps :ok:

[jettesen]

Why are you all heralding these guys as heros???? all they had was a pressurisation problem. Happens loads of times in aircraft around the world. Just because helios had a crash, no need to make every little problem like this sound huge. They did the job they are trained to do.................end of

God bless the Helios crew and pax, and we will wait for the REAL story in a few weeks.

[Check 6]

Jettesen, are you jealous of the attention?

No one has described them as being heroes. They are simply being complimented by their peers for their professionalism, no more, no less.

What is wrong with a few well deserved compliments?

Check 6

:rolleyes:

[rubik101]

Hey Jetesen, did you really write this rubbish?
Why are you all heralding these guys as heros???? all they had was a pressurisation problem. Happens loads of times in aircraft around the world. Just because helios had a crash, no need to make every little problem like this sound huge. They did the job they are trained to do.................end of
No-one suggested they were heroes, simply doing the job as trained to do. The point is that a pressurisation failure followed by an emergency decent is hardly "just doing the job" Nor does it happen "loads of times around the world" If it did we would need a separate heading on prune for them.
Praise where it is due to a fellow proffesional is something we pilots pride ourselves on not being too proud to give nor too bigotted to ridicule it where it is due. As is the case here.

[Safety's No Accident]

Be careful you guys..... jettesen is an unarmed combat specialist ( apparently :rolleyes: )... it being something he mentioned in a previous thread (unfortunately now removed) about how he would be able to defend an open FlightDeck door (probably having been opened to allow him to bring us in some tea and / or grub) from a group suicidal terrorists, and all this courtesy of his airline unarmed combat training ( ‘err, you know the kind I mean, i.e. a couple of hours in the class room with some handcuffs’ ). Oh yes, and I kid you not, he’s one dangerous dude ! :} ... but wherein the word 'delusional' comes readily to mind and you should have read the histrionics he espoused when I mentioned certain realities of this to him ! :E

Ps. Rubik... how's the boat ? ;)

[NEW-CREW]

They may have JUST done there job, however there have been lesser incidents when crew have gone to pieces when faced with a situation in the air. Have you never heard of credit where credits due???!!! Some of my best friends at the company were on that flight and i think that anyone in general who deals with a situation so well and professionally deserves a good bit of praise.

Good on you Astraeus Crew!!!!!!!!!!!!:ok:

[delta-golf]

I think its generally agreed that most of the serious accidents derive from a series of problems, which overwhelm a crew, sometimes by mishandling other times by pure bad luck.
We may see something of that come out in the Helios investigation, much of which is discussed and/or alluded to in the other thread.

Resolving this problem in a timely and professional manner arguably stopped the "chain of events" in its tracks, not to mention being an endorsement for the training and preparation of the flight crew.

I would say that merits a big thumbs up :ok:

[SIDSTAR]

Well done to all concerned. A good professional crew doing what they were trained to do in a professional manner. Coming from Astraeus with both JM and MF running the show I'd expect nothing less but that shouldn't prevent us from complimenting a fellow professional if he/she does a good proifessional job.

Now, any news on what caused the problem?

[Centaurus]

All these kudos are a bit worrying. No bugger congratulated me on a well handled emergency descent in the simulator the other night. In fact all I got was grumbles from the sim techs because I didn't stow the friggin oxy masks afterwards.

[Check 6]

Centaurus, fantastic job with the descent, mate!

:ok:

[7006 fan]

Not being a 'techie' in these matters, but am I making the wrong connections here. Helios, Aestraeus both using 733's both experiencing depressurisation problems, am i being paranoid here or could there be a malfunction, deterioration in a piece of equipment that is leading to this dangerous safety probelm.

Hope there is not a third, that would be disturbing and could send catastophic shock waves throughout the industry. How many 733's are in service!!!...!!!

:uhoh:

I am sure it is nothing but...

[BOAC]

Great job, Centaurus! Just stow those *** masks next time.:D

7006 - I have every reason to believe it was a complete coincidence. Cabin pressure failures/'glitches' are not THAT uncommon, but right now they are headlnes. An 'abnormal' situation well-handled by a good crew.

[arewenearlythereyet?]

am i being paranoid here or could there be a malfunction, deterioration in a piece of equipment that is leading to this dangerous safety probelm.
You're being paranoid. Now go away and find yourself a Trekkies forum or something. :rolleyes:

We don't know what the events that led up to the Helios crash really are. We are all assuming that it was a pressurisation problem, amongst other things. In the Astraeus incident we know that the crew followed the expected procedure and handled the problem as is expected.

How many times do we have to have anoraks coming on here with their 'conspiracy' theories or speculation that there is some 'common' fault here? The Astraeus incident wouldn't have even made the news if it hadn't been for the Helios crash. Give it a rest. :*

[flying brain]

Lets get some perspective back into this thread and avoid the hyperbole.

1. CAA statistics show 167 pressurisation related diversions into UK airports in the last 10 years, about one every 23 days on average.

2. While many may have been only minor and/or precautionary, in each event the crews reached terra firma in one piece and executed both their responsibilities and training competently.

3. The possibility of experiencing some form of pressurisation event is fully and properly recognised by all the major aviation authorities as evidenced in the initial and recurrent training/testing of crews in this area.

4. Structural failure causing sudden depressurisation and further structural / control damage is thankfully a rare event. The complex and challenging complications caused thus can only be partially trained for, and therefore often means crews making fundamental decisons with incomplete information.

Therefore let's freely recognise crew competency in (3) and keep hero comments for (4).

[SeniorDispatcher]

1. CAA statistics show 167 pressurisation related diversions into UK airports in the last 10 years, about one every 23 days on average.

Pretty much in line with the US. An article the other day mentioned 172 cases between 1990 to the present, about 1 per month.

Not being a 'techie' in these matters, but am I making the wrong connections here.

Yes, I think you are. As you can see from the numbers above from both the UK and US, these things have pretty routine causes, Aloha's 737 and United's 747 incidents nothwithstanding. You hear about those 2, the other 170 for the US seldom make the news.

Also keep in mind that the media likes to keep a story going. Invariably, a something big happens with lots of coverage, but eventually the news and urgency thereof wanes as the "boring" investigation progresses. Should something else occur, it's appears quite common to attempt to link the newer (usually minor) event with the more severe older event, irrespective of whether the same type aircraft and/or airline is involved.

[Blacksheep]

Pilots act in a professional manner nearly all of the time, thank goodness. So do the other aviation professionals who keep aviation at the top of the table for industrial safety consciousness. [Aside from being tongue-in-the-cheek provocative now and then when off duty of course] The few exceptions to this rule are mercilessly weeded out very quickly.

Anyone notice the name of this bulletin board?

[Milt]

NOW what we pros and TPs want to know asap is the sequence of events and what went wrong so that you may be better able to handle a similar situation if it occurs tomorrow.

[Sgt.Peppeh]

Hey..quit the sqabbling....have you guys noticed that whjen ever there is a major air mishaps,and incident similar will occur ?.. Air incidents comes in two`s within a specified window of time,time being a window of 5-10 weeks or am I just bloody superstitious or worse,getting old ? Hmmmmmmm .....????

The Sarge. :hmm:

[7006 fan]

Sorry if I upset anyone, it was not meant antagonistically, hence the 'sort of, maybe...if' way it was written.
I am glad that someone has put the incident in perspective concerning the number of depressurisations each year, most of which were 'routine' and none/hardly any get reported to the wider public, same as near-misses and so forth. Only catastrophies are newsworthy, a sad reflection on society. My heart and prayers go out to all families who have suffered loss in the Helios incident, and pray an answer to the incident is soon forthcoming.