SQ A380 emergency landing in Baku due to low cabin pressure
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SQ A380 emergency landing in Baku due to low cabin pressure
RBC news states that Singapor Airlines A380 LHR-SIN diverted to Baku, Azerbaijan due to cabin pressure loss. Oxygen masks were deployed. Landed approx 21:03 UTC.
Anyone knows details ?
Anyone knows details ?
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Well, according to an article from Le Monde:
Un A380 de Singapore Airlines atterrit en urgence à Bakou
In a message broadcasted on FB, a passenger in the aircraft, Matthew G. Johnson said he had heard a "loud air noise from the door located five rows farther" shortly after takeoff from London. A crew member told the passenger that the door was suffering from a "light" leak, added Mr. Johnson. A few hours later, the oxygen masks drop was triggered and the emergency landing procedure began.
SQ A380 emergency landing in Baku due to low cabin pressure
Seems this is not the first time leaking doors are reported with a380 (although first time it escalated to decompression). Is there anything specific with this aircraft regarding doors ?
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Excellent point - many doors on an a380. There's also many passengers, that might increase the probability that some pebble stuck under a shoe or any other contamination could slightly deform the bottom part of the door seal (blame changi airport and sillypore for not being clean enough? 
). Could be a number of other reasons as well, pure speculation from my side, but i highly doubt there's anything special about a380 door seals. I think the most unpleasant part of this near-non-incident would be having to leave the aircraft and wait at the airport in Baku.
). Could be a number of other reasons as well, pure speculation from my side, but i highly doubt there's anything special about a380 door seals. I think the most unpleasant part of this near-non-incident would be having to leave the aircraft and wait at the airport in Baku.
Last edited by deptrai; 6th Jan 2014 at 11:27.
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Alleged photo of the offending door. © Matthew G. Johnson 2014, a passenger.
Note the deformation of the window blind and the top surround.
If this is a 'non-incident' I take it this deformation is by design?
Note the deformation of the window blind and the top surround.
If this is a 'non-incident' I take it this deformation is by design?
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Singapore Airlines A380 plane in emergency landing
More from BBC here
An Airbus A380 plane operated by Singapore Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan due to loss of cabin pressure.
The plane was flying from London to Singapore and had 467 passengers and 27 crew members on board.
The airline said that oxygen masks were deployed and the aircraft landed "uneventfully" at the Baku airport.
It said that none of the passengers or crew was injured and that it was investigating what caused the problem.
Nathan Phelps, an electrical supervisor from south Wales who was on the flight, told the BBC the plane was cruising at around 38,000 feet when it suddenly began to drop.
"I literally thought we were all going to die. There was no warning, the plane just went into a deep descent, the masks dropped and you automatically thought we were going to crash. There was no other rational thought really. You couldn't really look at it optimistically because you had never experienced anything like that before."
Singapore Airlines said a replacement airplane to take the stranded passengers on to Singapore had now departed and was due to arrive in Baku on 7 January.
It said it had also sent staff from both Istanbul and Moscow to provide assistance on the ground in Baku.
Complaints However, some customers writing on the airline's Facebook page complained about the wait for a replacement plane.
Passenger Terri Mann, said that she had to sleep on a "cold steel bench" with her 17-month old child, and that there were no "food places" at the airport.
"We are all a little hesitant about getting on our next legs of our journeys, just hope the worst is over," she wrote.
Another passenger Mark Franklin wrote that the handling of the incident was "terrible".
"It's not acceptable to not have even very basic refreshment or information for almost 500 people," he added.
In response to the complaints, Singapore Airlines issued a statement on Facebook apologising: "We sincerely apologise to affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and the lengthy delay encountered at the airport in Baku," it said.
However, other people writing on Singapore Airline's Facebook page praised its handling of the incident.
Iker Ibáñez wrote: "One can only congratulate the crew for bringing the aircraft down to a safe landing with all passengers and crew on board in one piece."
Similarly, Ronald Leung wrote: "Really have to appreciate Singapore Airlines making the immediate announcement rather than say nothing and try to censor the number of people who will know about the incident."
In response to passenger reports that the emergency landing was because of a faulty door, a Singapore Airlines spokesman said that "on the earlier flight into London there was a noise reported from one of the main deck doors".
But he added that "the door was inspected by engineers on the ground in London with no findings, and the aircraft was cleared for continued operation".
Airbus, which manufactures A380s, said in a statement that it was "following up on this issue and providing technical assistance to the airline".
Singapore Airlines is one of the biggest operators of the A380 planes, with 19 jets in its fleet.
Quote below the photo "No passengers or crew were injured"
I think it was a good job done by crew
An Airbus A380 plane operated by Singapore Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing in Azerbaijan due to loss of cabin pressure.
The plane was flying from London to Singapore and had 467 passengers and 27 crew members on board.
The airline said that oxygen masks were deployed and the aircraft landed "uneventfully" at the Baku airport.
It said that none of the passengers or crew was injured and that it was investigating what caused the problem.
Nathan Phelps, an electrical supervisor from south Wales who was on the flight, told the BBC the plane was cruising at around 38,000 feet when it suddenly began to drop.
"I literally thought we were all going to die. There was no warning, the plane just went into a deep descent, the masks dropped and you automatically thought we were going to crash. There was no other rational thought really. You couldn't really look at it optimistically because you had never experienced anything like that before."
Singapore Airlines said a replacement airplane to take the stranded passengers on to Singapore had now departed and was due to arrive in Baku on 7 January.
It said it had also sent staff from both Istanbul and Moscow to provide assistance on the ground in Baku.
Complaints However, some customers writing on the airline's Facebook page complained about the wait for a replacement plane.
Passenger Terri Mann, said that she had to sleep on a "cold steel bench" with her 17-month old child, and that there were no "food places" at the airport.
"We are all a little hesitant about getting on our next legs of our journeys, just hope the worst is over," she wrote.
Another passenger Mark Franklin wrote that the handling of the incident was "terrible".
"It's not acceptable to not have even very basic refreshment or information for almost 500 people," he added.
In response to the complaints, Singapore Airlines issued a statement on Facebook apologising: "We sincerely apologise to affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and the lengthy delay encountered at the airport in Baku," it said.
However, other people writing on Singapore Airline's Facebook page praised its handling of the incident.
Iker Ibáñez wrote: "One can only congratulate the crew for bringing the aircraft down to a safe landing with all passengers and crew on board in one piece."
Similarly, Ronald Leung wrote: "Really have to appreciate Singapore Airlines making the immediate announcement rather than say nothing and try to censor the number of people who will know about the incident."
In response to passenger reports that the emergency landing was because of a faulty door, a Singapore Airlines spokesman said that "on the earlier flight into London there was a noise reported from one of the main deck doors".
But he added that "the door was inspected by engineers on the ground in London with no findings, and the aircraft was cleared for continued operation".
Airbus, which manufactures A380s, said in a statement that it was "following up on this issue and providing technical assistance to the airline".
Singapore Airlines is one of the biggest operators of the A380 planes, with 19 jets in its fleet.
Quote below the photo "No passengers or crew were injured"
I think it was a good job done by crew
SQ A380 emergency landing in Baku due to low cabin pressure
Quick question: in such case (loss of cabin pressure) is the descent pilot initiated (I would think and hope that there is no automation here) ? If so what about a PA announcement or even some sort of emergency message displayed on all in flight entertainment screens ? It would calm the paxs and insure that correct procedures are followed.
As for complaining about the Baku airport lack of amenities I guess there is very little that SQ could do about it...
As for complaining about the Baku airport lack of amenities I guess there is very little that SQ could do about it...
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Emergency descending is only done by crew and there's no time to make an announcement when you're losing air so quickly,the only thing is to switch seat belts sign
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OK well done to the crew following procedures getting down safely.
I feel sorry for the poor army of guys engineers who will have to repack all the o2 masks, change all the oxygen gens and generally clean up after the pax and CC who soiled themselves!
The unseen unsung heroes, the neglected and long suffering poor engineers.!!!!!!
No plane will take off without them.
I feel sorry for the poor army of guys engineers who will have to repack all the o2 masks, change all the oxygen gens and generally clean up after the pax and CC who soiled themselves!
The unseen unsung heroes, the neglected and long suffering poor engineers.!!!!!!
No plane will take off without them.
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What is a descent pilot? Or did you mean decent....
Airbus procedures for a "decent" emergency descent are for the maximum automation possible in these events.
You leave the A/P and A/T engaged and use manual modes (Turn and Pull) and then check your FMA's to make sure what you want is what you have.
This is then refined when in the descent and both pilots are on oxygen applicable and appropriate to the scenario given.
This allows Pilot Flying (normally CM1) to monitor the flight path produced by the automatics and for PM to carry out other essential tasks like seatbelts, manual oxygen deployment if required and talk to ATC.
Works very well in the sim, crew did a good job here and I think the passengers are being a bit harsh about the choice of airport given the location. Given the tripe talked on the EK380 continuing from JFK to KWI can you imagine the armchair pilot frenzy if they found out that a 380 had continued in an area full of terrain just so they could get to somewhere with a McDonalds?
P.S. PlasticMerc don't worry yourself too much there's not too many Oxygen gennies to change on one of these birds
Airbus procedures for a "decent" emergency descent are for the maximum automation possible in these events.
You leave the A/P and A/T engaged and use manual modes (Turn and Pull) and then check your FMA's to make sure what you want is what you have.
This is then refined when in the descent and both pilots are on oxygen applicable and appropriate to the scenario given.
This allows Pilot Flying (normally CM1) to monitor the flight path produced by the automatics and for PM to carry out other essential tasks like seatbelts, manual oxygen deployment if required and talk to ATC.
Works very well in the sim, crew did a good job here and I think the passengers are being a bit harsh about the choice of airport given the location. Given the tripe talked on the EK380 continuing from JFK to KWI can you imagine the armchair pilot frenzy if they found out that a 380 had continued in an area full of terrain just so they could get to somewhere with a McDonalds?
P.S. PlasticMerc don't worry yourself too much there's not too many Oxygen gennies to change on one of these birds
"A Flight Engineer would have bogged it up with wet paper towels. No need to divert."
My thought exactly. Good low tech solution. Even a pilot could have done it. I know, been there, done it.
My thought exactly. Good low tech solution. Even a pilot could have done it. I know, been there, done it.