Boater Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 A Qantas aircraft had to make an emergency landing after its cabin unexpectedly became depressurised, forcing the pilot to make a rapid descent. Passengers on the Melbourne-bound flight from Adelaide were given a serious fright on Monday as the jet suddenly dropped from 36,000 to 10,000 feet (11,000 to 3,000 metres). Fortunately –despite some reported panic on board – none of the 99 passengers and six crew members were hurt. Oxygen masks were deployed during the dive, and the Boeing 737-400 ended up landing safely after a rapid but "controlled" dive, according to Qantas. An unnamed passenger commented: "Most people were worried because you don't know what's going on really," adding, "It's not pleasant, that's for sure." Another traveller on board the flight told Australian radio Fairfax: "There was a little bit of panic down the back of the plane and some of the passengers needed to be comforted by the hostesses." Qantas believes that a faulty air conditioning system is to blame for the sudden depressurisation of the plane's cabin. A spokesperson for the Australian airline told AFP: "There are two air conditioning systems on the aircraft; one of them failed at the cruising altitude, that's when they started to descend. "The other one subsequently failed because it was overloaded, so they then went into a more rapid descent, still obviously controlled, down to 10,000 feet." http://uk.travel.yahoo.com/p-promo-3360559 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negreanu Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Plummets..... Jeez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 That is no 'plummets', that is a controled, rapid descend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakegeneve Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 What has this got to do with travel in thailand?!? Are you going to post every time a plane has some problem somewhere in the world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukrules Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I believe these rapid descents are done so people don't suffocate due to the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes when the pressure is lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomatopo Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 This incident may be more relevant? Qantas denies problems after new engine incident January 26, 2011 - 2:42PM A Qantas plane suffering engine troubles has been forced to turn back to Bangkok, hours after another plane descended 8000 metres after cabin depressurisation. But the airline has denied its experiencing systemic maintenance problems. "It's certainly very frustrating because passengers are being affected," Qantas spokesman Tom Woodward said. "We spend $4.4 billion in maintenance a year; we don't see there are systematic maintenance issues." Passengers will spend Australia Day stranded in Bangkok after a Sydney-bound Qantas jet experienced midair engine problems about 5.45pm local time (9.45pm AEST) yesterday. The flight crew spotted the problem shortly after take-off. "One of the engines was consuming fuel more quickly than normal," Mr Woodward said. "Following procedure they took the precautionary decision to return to Bangkok to have the engine inspected." The troubled Boeing 747 returned to Bangkok just after 7pm local time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishhooks Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) What has this got to do with travel in thailand?!? Are you going to post every time a plane has some problem somewhere in the world?............Lakegeneve I for one, am happy to hear of aircraft related incidents anywhere in the world, thanks 'Boater' for posting. Edited January 26, 2011 by fishhooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusader79 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 What has this got to do with travel in thailand?!? Are you going to post every time a plane has some problem somewhere in the world?............Lakegeneve I for one, am happy to hear of aircraft related incidents anywhere in the world, thanks 'Boater' for posting. Not me. Thousands of people die in car accidents every day, I don't need a report on each one. Plane crashes/near crashes receive inordinate attention mainly because they're so spectacular and kill a large number of people in a single event. And partly because of the fear of handing over your safety to someone else (which of course you do as a car passenger as well). Speaking of which, taking taxis to Suvarnabhumi (without a seat belt, no less) are hundreds/thousands of times more risky. Those trips are by far the biggest risks I take with my life all year. When I one day awake paralyzed in a hospital room I will wonder what in the world I was thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Topic continues here: //Closed// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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