THAI plane makes emergency landing at Hat Yai airport
 

This is from a reputable member and moderator of the Thaivisa forum who was on the flight- posted link here
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index....post&p=1639240


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Airconditioning failure? What a load of bollox!!!

Firstly, thanks to all who have expressed concern and well wishes... it was a harrowing experience for my wife and I, as well as the other passengers and flight crew. My wife, as well as some members of the Thai flight crew, were clutching their buddhas and amulets and praying that we were not going to crash. From the wide-eyed looks on the faces of the flight crew, it was obvious that we were in serious trouble.

First hand observations: we were about an hour into the flight, flying at nomal cruising altitude (35000 ft?) when there was a loud bang and the plane suddenly dropped. All the oxygen masks dropped out from the overhead compartments and an automatic pre-recorded message came over the itercom: "Emergency, emergency. Please put on your oxygen masks". The jet engines were screaming and the plane was rapidly descending. The cabin crew strapped themselves into their seats and also tried to put on their masks. Despite putting on the masks correctly, it was soon evident that there was no oxygen supply, as the plastic bags than connect to the masks and the gas delivery tube were not inflating... so basically, everyone was just hyperventilating. Two children in our section of the plane fainted, and were resuscitated by cabin crew with portable oxygen bottles and masks.

It was the quickest and roughest descent I have ever experienced... I would guess at about 15 minutes from the time of depressure to actual touchdown at Hat Yai.

The air con was not working during descent, but it certainly was not hot until we were actually taxiing from the runway to the terminal.

We had about a 5 hour wait at the transit lounge in Hat Yai until a replacement A330 Airbus arrived from BKK to take us on to KL.

So... the news reports were accurate in one respect... there were no injuries, but there were certainly children fainting as well as other passengers experiencing ear problems with rapid depressurization.

Hmm, wonder if he (and others) had paid attention to the safety briefing and given his Oxygen mask a good tug. Just a thought.

...."the bag may not inflate".......

Indeed the bag will not inflate. If you stayed concious at 35,00ft i would say that your o2 was flowing just dandy.

Not sure why they dont include the brief instruction for pax to check to see o2 is flowing by checking the green indicator in the clear tube. If its not green give it another tug to start the o2 generator.

Im fairly sure that on the pax masks it actually states "This bag will not inflate!"

Westernwind,

It was an Emergency Descent ... that's what they are, that's how they're flown.

It was rough because the crew responded to the Emergency Descent, and got down quickly (THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!).

You appear to have a real 'poor us' attitude going on. Why can't you say 'well done to all the flight and cabin crew involved' for executing and landing safely off a nasty little depressurisation and emergency descent.

And by the way, it probably was an air conditioning failure (its the aircon that keeps the aircraft pressurised and the air breathable). Also (as others have said), the bags on the masks are likely not to inflate.

Oxygen is not piped in aircraft, it is provided by chemical generators in the panel over your head. There is a generator for every 3 or so seats, which are activated by puling a mask down. The chances that none of them were working is ridiculous. As someone else said above, if you remained concious, then oxygen must have been flowing. At 35,000, your time of useful conciousness is only about 12 seconds without oxygen.

I'm sorry it was harrowing for you, but this all sounds EXACTLY as I would expect for this type of scenario ...

AltFlaps:cloudhopper:http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index....post&p=1639554


Care to comment, AltFlaps?

See for example:

http://www.theairlinepilots.com/medi...andhypoxia.htm

Time of useful consciousness is 30-60 seconds at 35.000 feet, and around 3-5 minutes at 25.000 feet. Time to death at 35.000 feet is approximately 5 minutes if no oxygen supply comes in.

What may have played a role in the argument: if it is not a rapid decompression, the cabin isn't yet at 35.000 feet, but the alert in the cockpit starts at a "cabine altitude" of around about 10.000 feet with the cabine altitude climbing further at some rate depending on packs, position of outflow valve and size of leak. This will lead to a much longer time of useful consciousness than the theoretic value.

Servus, Simon

Thanks for the link, Simon. Interesting information.

Which kind of airplane are we talking about?

Obviously a high altitude decompression followed by a rapid decent, as mandated by recall actions.
Hats off to the crew, and a pat on the back.
Sounds as if they did exactly what they were supposed to do. That sort of scenario has the potential to go horribly pearshaped, especially if there is a high MORA and bad weather around. As I recall, Thailand is just coming out of its monsoon rainy season?

Was it an A333?

Shouldn't a rapid decompression at that altitude also cause an almost instant mist?

Well done to the crew! :ok:

guess it should. few other things don't add up in that westernwind story
Maybe there was indeed a malfunction of the aircon system? With no/too less outside air flow pressurization was impacted, cabin altitude started increasing and a warning was triggered when exceeding 10kft Z-cab. The crew correctly initiated an emergency descent, and landed the plane at next airport. End of story.
Just a thought...
That would leave the loud-bang part rest of story... well.. an exaggeration ;)