Saab 340 and pressurisation
 

What ho..

Is the Saab 340 normally flown pressurised or not?

I flew from Kirkwall to Edinburgh today on a BA/LoganAir Saab 340. This is my second flight on one of these, and as on the outward journey last week (which was the first) there was no depressurisation drill in the flight safety briefing - no mention of masks, in other words. I assumed on the way out that this was because the cabin wasn't pressurised, although I noticed that there were what appeared to be O2 outlets in the ceiling. Last time I was in something similar (a Metroliner - which would have been more appropriate for the Orkney run, as you can't stand up in a chambered cairn either), we had notices on the back of the seats and a quick run through by the stew about how to whip out the masks and plug 'em in.

On this return trip, though, Captain Speaking mentioned at one point that we were at 12,000 feet. Last time I looked, this was high enough to cause some hypoxia problems for some people.

So: were we pressurised (in which case, why no mask drill?) or were we not (in which case, was it safe for all pax)? Is it that we were low enough to get back to a safe altitude quickly enough without the need for O2?

R

The SAAB 340 has an outstanding pressuisation system but as it is certified to 25 000 feet there is no need for drop down O2. The corperate model which was certified above FL250 did have drop down O2.

Why would you rather fly a metroliner, it's a horrible areoplane for pilots and passengers?

Short answer : Yes.

Long answer : Yes, the saab is pressurised and yes, you will generally be anywhere from F090 up to F250 depending on the length of flight.

The simple answer is that the regulations do not require outlets for all pax on the saab. The time taken to descend in an emergency to F100 or below in the saab is much less than the time of useful conciousness at saab cruising levels. The oxy outlets in the cabin are primarily for use after a decompression, in case a passenger has difficulty breathing even when at F100.

Eh, complete rubbish. If that were the case you'd still be flying on the Shorts. For a start, the metroliner only seats 19 people, the saab has 34 (usually) and that still isn't enough!

Thanks - and no, I was joking about the Metroliner. If you go to the Orkneys, there are lots of prehistoric sites which require you to stoop down and crawl through a dank, tiny tunnel in order to get to your destination among the Neolithic dead - which reminded me in so many ways of my experiences in the infamous Death Pencil.

The Saab was much nicer, in every respect.

R

Ah, sorry. When I read "cairn" my mind filled in the blanks as a typo for cabin, and completely ignored the chambered bit!;)